Something’s Off With Ted Cruz’s Spanish Language Ads

In July Ted Cruz’s re-election campaign launched a major ad blitz focused on Hispanic voters in Texas. Axios reported the buy would include both broadcast and digital ads targeting Latino voters in Texas. As the ads have started rolling out, though, it’s clear the authentic portrait of Texas the Cruz campaign was hoping to convey is filled with multiple stock images of people not from Texas (or even America) and even one AI-generated image of a child.

One of the ads, titled “Ted Cruz: El Valiente Senador” features the upbeat tempo of a typical Mexican “corrido.” There are images of Cruz interspersed with shots of Texas and Spanish language slogans, like “defiende la frontera” (defends the border) and “ha luchador contra los altos impuestos” (fights against higher taxes).

But the family that appears towards the end of the ad is not from Texas. The footage comes from a Shutterstock user known as Fizkes. According to his Shutterstock profile, Fizkes has been active since 2014 and is based out of the United Arab Emirates. The description of the footage on Shutterstock describes the image as “beautiful Hispanic family close up portrait.” We haven’t just touched down on a Texas family grateful for their junior Senator: these are actors and models from halfway across the world.

Another Spanish language ad that Cruz launched in August, this one focused on protecting children in Texas, similarly relies on foreign images and even AI. The ad opens with two young children seemingly happy and then placed on top of burning flames. “En estas elecciones la seguridad de nuestros niños está en juego,” says the voiceover. “In this election the safety of our children is in jeopardy,” is a rough translation.

Once again, the image from the ad hails far from Texas. The child on the right comes from a stock photo website PeopleImages. According to PeopleImages, their company is based out of South Africa.

Towards the end of the ad Allred appears alongside President Biden. Text then is overlaid on the screen saying, “Ha destrozado la inocencia de nuestros ninos.” That basically translates to they “destroyed the innocence of our children.” A young boy appears in a black and white image and the viewer is perhaps to ascertain this is one of those children whose innocence is being destroyed.

That child comes from AdobeStock, and it was created by Artificial Intelligence. Interestingly, the disclaimer for the photo notes “editorial use must not be misleading or deceptive.” 

In 2018, Ted Cruz won his Senate election against Beto O’Rourke by less than three points. Polls are suggesting a similarly tight race against Allred. Whether or not these ads, pieced together from all sorts of corners of the internet will be persuasive to voters, remains to be seen.