I am careful to read the profile of each recipient I am assigned, and do my best to match cards and stamps to their stated interests. I have noticed that some people say “NO Ad Cards please.” I’m wondering if this would include classic posters by now-well-known artists (such as the Villemot series advertising “Orangina” or turn-of-the-century posters for “Absinthe” etc) which were originally commissioned for advertising purposes, but which are now considered works of art in their own right. I happen to have a lot of such cards, which I regard as high quality. I understand that each Postcrosser might mean something different by the request, but in your opinion should I never send those works of art to those recipients? Thanks for your input! (Examples attached).
I think those are very nice post cards
This question has been covered several times by others. The moderators have often merged this posts to avoid several different threads. But I will try to answer your question.
Ad Cards / Advertising Cards / Rack Cards / Freecards all pretty much refer to the same thing. The one thing they have in common is that they are usually free or very cheap…$0.10 each These types of cards were quite popular many years ago, especially overseas in Europe. The ad cards had some interesting subjects like perfume, movie posters, etc. Restaurants would often have a display rack on a counter so that patrons could pick up these cards and mail them to friends…especially if they liked the restaurant. Here in the US, artist galleries would use them to mail to buyers when they had an exhibit of a new artist or sculptor. The message side would have the Gallery details, the artists details, the date(s) of the exhibition.
But in the last 20 years, the two main publishers of ad cards (or GO cards) here in the US went out of business. As I said before, these cards are cheap and the subjects so generic and uninteresting that you would do well to avoid sending them to people who state “No ad cards” in their profiles. Over the years, even though I state in my profile that I did not want these types of cards, I still got them. I registered them and then tossed them.
Thanks for your answer. I do understand what ad cards are, in general. But specifically, I’m interested in postcard reproductions of classic / vintage posters that may initially have been commissioned for advertising, but have since become considered works of art in their own right (such as the examples I attached). Would your reaction to those be different? I only send them to people who state they have an interest in art or vintage subjects. Thanks again
@Wordloom Postcard reproductions are fine. My reaction to those would be different. When people have No Ad Cards in their profiles, it generally refers to the types of cards I mentioned in my first reply to you. So, no worries…
@Wordloom
Advertising cards that are rejected by many users are free cards that usually advertise current products.
As @cliffside already wrote are the cards you are showing postcards that show reproductions of old advertising or information posters of all kinds - and these are not among the advertising cards that are often rejected.
Here, for example, are reproductions of old travel- or advertising posters:
I have changed the headline accordingly
Here is a topic about real advertising cards 
What are advertising cards?