The 30-second ad is running on CNN and shows a series of people deep in thought while a voiceover intones: "Some of us have been looking their whole lives. Most don't even know what they are looking for, but we all feel it ... that unexplainable emptiness that can only be filled by one thing ... the truth."
On the final words the blue-toned ad dissolves into a black screen into which flares the web address for the Scientologists -- Scientology.org.
It is not clear how long the ad has been running but since the middle of May traffic to the website has surged according to Alexa, from a 0.001% share of all internet traffic to 0.02%.
Back in the pre-internet 1980s Scientology ads relied heavily on synthesizer soundtracks and pushed founder L Ron Hubbard's book 'Dianetics' as 'The Owner's Manual for the Human Mind'.
Back in the present day there is speculation Peaches Geldof has become the cult's latest celebrity recruit. Reports claim she was seen leaving a Scientology Celebrity Centre in Hollywood holding documents about the movement.
One of Scientology's deepest secrets (until it was revealed in the press) is that each human being is full of "Thetans", the dead souls of an alien race.
Famous Scientologists include Tom Cruise, John Travolta and 'My Name is Earl' star Jason Lee.