Hello, everyone, have you ever received any Ad cards? i was confused by a behavior of some ppl who sent ad cards, it’s not fair to other members, almost every Pcers try to send a nice card to others with warm words. but a few ppl sent ad card
i guess it’s pretty depressed thing when someone receive an ad card, i want to know it is legal or not of sending Ad cards?
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It’s not okay to show us the name of the user.
Please delete the screenshot.
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yes, thank you, i edit it
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First I want to say that the user didn’t something wrong. Ad-cards are cards and he did what he should do: He/she sent a card.
I sent also ad-cards if they matches the wishes and the recipient does not write explicitly that he/she don’t like ad cards.
Edited because the first post was edited too.
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Ad cards are cards. Some people like them, some don’t - but it is not forbidden to send them. If the card was sent with no message on it, I understand it is disappointing as it looks like the sender is not caring that much, but there are people who don’t really write messages. Usually, if we receive such things, most of us just sigh and move on - meaning, it happens, some interactions are better than other.
A lot of people write on their profile that they prefer not to receive ad cards, so maybe you can do that too if you are so upset by it. But, the sender is not obliged to respect your wishes, they can still send an ad card.
Some people also send the same card to everybody, I do not understand what is the fun in doing that, but again it is not forbidden. But yes, it is annoying if they have demands on their profile 
I don’t specify that I don’t want ad cards and I only received maybe 2 or 3 in my life. Some of them are actually really nice, some less. Sometimes they represent the culture of the place they come from, and I like that. Sometimes they are a bit generic and I don’t like it, but I don’t mind - some postcards I like, some postcards I don’t, even if they are not ad.
And to be clear, it is not against the rules to send ad cards, they are cards like any other ones.
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i got your meaning, that’s interesting information, I thought it was illegal, maybe it’s the one of the fun of postcrossing, because you don’t know what’s the card you will receive XD
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EXACTLY! 
That is literally what the fun is, in my opinion 
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I like ad cards! I think those are the great way to get a bit of special look of the country and what (and how) they advertise. It is like a sneak peak to their markets without leaving home, extra fancy and exotic! However as not everybody likes ad cards and might not have thought about mentioning that in their profile, I send ad cards only if the profile specially mentions they are okay with that. It is a bit of a controversial topic. I understand ad cards can be a disappointment if you were not excepting them and thought would not receive one.
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It is not illegal. 
And it is not illegal to have your preferences displayed on your profile. As @elikoa said, you can put it on your profile if you feel comfortable with it. I wrote on my profile that I like these type of cards, for example! 
Although I do understand your distress. I am sorry if you had to experience that in your early days as a postcrosser - welcome to Postcrossing! 
- but, hopefully, you will receive more awesome postcards in the future. I would be pleased to send you one with a nice message on it, just send me your address if you feel like it. 
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I have received many… great ones, neutral ones and ugly ones… same for calendar cards, cards from boxes or normal store bought cards. I even traded for ad cards, because why not? There are beautiful ones around
Here are some examples of ad cards… I think they’re all very nice (of course they won’t fit everyone’s taste, but that applies to all cards).
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The Postcrossing rules are clear: members can state their preferences, but those sending postcards are not required to honor these requests.
In my experience, 90% of the cards I have received match my preferences. The remaining 10% I give to those people who like that kind of cards, and all are happy.
Interestingly, some who don’t send a card I like apologize and explain that photo tourist cards are not available in their town. I find that very nice of the senders and thank them specifically for their cards and their efforts to find a suitable one. I’m in the lucky situation of living in a large city with lots of postcard shops. What do you do if you live 100 km or more away from the next city?
If you prefer to get cards you like, try round robins (RR) here in the forum. My experience is that I always get cards matching my requests (which doesn’t always mean I find them pretty, but that’s my personal problem )
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thank you, i was overreacting on this subject, i can’t forget my original motivation i join the Pc, That’s point. Not matter beautiful card or Ad card,
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Advertisment postcards are real postcards and that is what the sender owes! Sometimes I send such cards if the addressee does not exclude them or even asks for them.
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I think ad cards are as valid as any other postcard. I personally do not send them if people explicitly say that they don’t want them or the subject matter does not match their interests. I’ve gotten ad cards before, but in general, I’m more interested in what people write in their message than what card they send.
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First, I want to welcome you, @Tia_pupa, to Postcrossing. 
We are very happy to have you here, and hope you have many wonderful experiences connecting with the world! 
To my knowledge, I have not received any ad cards before, but like @Kompis-Ninna, I think they could be an interesting little peek into the commercial culture of a place, or the interests of the sender him/herself.
Now that I think of it, I have actually sent ad cards myself without realizing it. They were beautiful illustrations from my hometown, and it was not obvious (to me, at least) that there was a product or service involved. Perhaps the businesses being advertised were so familiar to me, or so representative of my city, that I was blissfully unaware of their purpose. 
@Cassiopheia, some of the beautiful cards you shared seem to fall into this category, too–it’s hard to tell at first glance that they even are ad cards.
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Yes, I received lots of ad cards already!
And some are very beautiful, too!
I have a student job at an academic institute and they often have the most fascinating free cards about current research projects 
I only dislike them if there is so much advertising on the back that there is no space for a message – or if there is space but still no personal message 
(Postcards are a communication platform, why don’t you use them for communication?)
Or if they advertise stuff that I dislike but, well, that can happen with bought and handmade postcards as well 
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I send ad cards when they show subjects on a person’s wishlist, and as long as the back is set up like a proper postcard with plenty of room to write. Most of the ad cards distributed around here are for the ballet, museums or theatre, so they can be beautiful and interesting.
The company that makes these cards also prints ones with artwork by local artists which are not advertising anything (except, very small, the card company). They are not really ads, but are free, so I treat them the same.
Here’s a selection of both types. The ballet ones in particular, while clearly ads, are so gorgeous.
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Those are amazing! I would gladly accept those ad cards.
I haven’t got on profile single word of ad cards and I think I have received maybe two of those I wasn’t really happy about. But that’s part of the game, you never knoa what postcard you get!
Actually, I think that almost every postcard are kind of ad. For example Prague Zoo got postcards for only 5 CZK, so they are super cheap and they do have their logo on it. It is an ad? Kind of yes! I understand you usually mean free ones, but if they are nice and cute - what’s wrong with sending them? Absolutelly nothing.
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I’ve gotten a few ad cards. One, from Russia, was for a brand of cat food we have here in the US, too. At the time, we had the exact same picture in our ads for it, so that was interesting.
In my profile, I welcome ad cards related to mental health and addiction. I work in that field, and it’s interesting for me to see what other countries think.
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I have sent and received ad cards. Some of them are really fun and witty or are great to learn about the culture of a place.
As long as the back is not already filled with text and has spaced to write a message, that’s fine.
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