Have you tried to count the number of times you skipped an ad on Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook? You often feel weary when the ads get repetitive, and resort to the magical "hide this ad" button. It seems digital advertising on social media platforms has reached a point of saturation. Online advertising has proliferated due to the ease of the process and cheaper costs, but this could be counterproductive. Apparently, due to the large number of advertisements, it's difficult to reach the target segments.

Some ad campaigns have begun combining their digital with real life campaigns, especially those targeting the youth. Interesting and creatively new graffiti and posters can be found where the youth like to mingle and hang out, like Mayar Complex, Shuwaikh Market, Lilly Center, Seef restaurants area and Mubarak Al-Kabeer Street. Some of these commercial campaigns may seem like social and political commentaries, while others are based on graphic design and photography. Yet, they are all directing passersby, aka the target audience, to their social media accounts.

The use of posters and graffiti is not new to the Kuwaiti culture. These have been used to stir public opinion by enthusiastic individuals. But for some reason, individual efforts are virtually nonexistent in the light of the emergence of commercial posters and graffiti work. Therefore, it's early to say that there is a growing poster culture in Kuwait.

Graphic and poster designer Tala Al-Maian said there has been a growth in the graffiti movement in Kuwait in the past few years, along with social acceptance of it. "I believe in the next three years, we will see more posters on walls than graffiti because they're simple and easy to print. You can call it the cheap people's art!"

Story and photographs by Athoob Al-Shuaibi