The “cards” are actually the beermats used in promotion of the Smirnoff Mule drink. They look very distinctive. Personally they remind me of the traveling carnies that cross the US Midwest during the Great Depression the 1930s.
Probably not the intention of the drink makers (I’m sure they were after the roaring 1920s or the early 1940s, but still).
Their advertising is all circus based, as the TV advert embedded video below shows.
I’m not sure why, but I suspect part of it is to stand out from the other name of the drink, the “Moscow Mule”. Russia has great Circuses, but this way its an implied link rather than a direct one.
And you can have a lot of fun with a circus.
Now, I have to ask. Are photos of, well, photos a bit of a cop out?
Will Knott