EL TRABAJO ESPECULATIVO EN PUBLICIDAD: "El Espejismo del Trabajo Gratuito".

This article examines the phenomenon of speculative work (spec work) in the communications industries, including advertising, marketing, graphic design, and software development, from an interdisciplinary perspective that integrates Communication Sciences, Marketing, Cultural Anthropology, and Law. Speculative work, understood as the practice of requesting complete professional deliverables without a prior commitment to compensation, has become a silent epidemic that undermines the economic sustainability and professional dignity of creative workers worldwide. Through independent analyses from each discipline and a comprehensive integrative synthesis, this study reveals the structural, cultural, economic, and legal mechanisms that perpetuate this practice. The communicational analysis exposes how the devaluation of intangible intellectual labor facilitates the normalization of unpaid creative production. The marketing perspective demonstrates how spec work distorts market dynamics, generates negative externalities, and corrodes the perceived value of professional services. The anthropological lens uncovers the cultural rituals, power asymmetries, and symbolic violence embedded in spec work interactions. The legal analysis identifies regulatory gaps, contractual vulnerabilities, and emerging frameworks that could provide meaningful protection. The integrative synthesis argues that spec work operates as a self-reinforcing system where cultural norms, market failures, informational asymmetries, and legal vacuums converge to create a cycle of exploitation that particularly affects young professionals entering highly competitive markets. The article concludes with a call for collective professional action, drawing parallels to other professions, including law, architecture, and engineering, where analogous dynamics persist but have been more effectively contested. Historical origins, alternative nomenclatures, andcross-sectoral manifestations of speculative work are also documented. The findings underscore the urgent need for interdisciplinary strategies that combine professional self-regulation, consumer education, legislative reform, and cultural transformation to dismantle the structural foundations of speculative work.