Tarek Chemaly is a communications consultant and university lecturer in Beirut. He discovered these ambient adverts while travelling round the globe and published in his blog.

Magazines, roads, newspapers are so full of ads. But with time, we become accustomed to seeing them, our eyes grew lazy, expective, less embracing of the novelty, and it seemed that our immune system grew a vaccine against the advertisers' most notable efforts to impress us.

Ambient media is a type of advertising which disguises itself as non-advertising, to dupe the defense system of the consumer  - who is always wary when he or she knows they are being 'sold' something. They pretend they are not selling anything, take the viewer by surprise. They can be found on sliding doors in malls, golf balls, bus exhausts, bathroom mirrors (especially in restaurants and public places) ....

These kind of ads are placed in such strange places, people feel like they 'discover' them, and so tell other people about them. They are like a discount store that you only tell a good friend about to 'let them in on the secret'. Ambiant media relies on word-of-mouth and viral marketing (people forwarding emails of the images to friends)".

"The mouse a man needs", a controversial advert for a famous anti-perspirant brand AXE (or Lynx) in Dubai, UAE. Published by "dashowcase".

A Mini Cooper advert in Zurich station, Switzerland. Published by "Malek".

Amnesty International. "Thousands are held prisoners for their beliefs in places worse than this. Write until you free them all." Published by "dashowcase".

Advert for knife manufacturer Zwilling J.A. Henckels. Published by "dashowcase".

In the bottom of a swimming pool in Mumbai, India, an HSBC ad raises awareness about climate change. Published by "Alex".

Advert for an insurance company in Beirut, Lebanon. "Wanted for not having car insurance." Picture taken by Tarek Chemaly.