"Sponsored shortcuts" comes enabled by default, at least on Windows builds made by Mozilla. If you are using Linux I suppose your distro turns it off by default?
btw in my case it adds two ads: Nike and Amazon. They come with tracking parameters that are unique to me (if I create a new browser profile, they change)
You are annoyed with chrome's distracting home screen that shows your most visited sites but you are not annoyed with firefox's distracting home screen that shows your most visited sites plus some ads?
I suppose the cards themselves are the same regardless of the region, but the language of the instruction manual depends on the region, and they are commingling decks from all regions?