Yemad Fayed
Scroll through any social media feed in Bangladesh today, and you’ll find a jumble of hashtags promoting sustainability, eco-friendly products, and ethical consumption. From ‘green’ fashion labels to ‘climate-conscious’ brands, sustainability has become a marketing buzzword that corporations often use more as a badge of virtue than a genuine business ethic. Yet, beneath this glossy branding lies a deeper issue: Bangladesh’s consumers are being spoken to, not listened to. In the noise of digital marketing, their voices, concerns, and capacity for critical engagement are often drowned out.
This dynamic mirrors a broader communication crisis in the digital era. Globally, misinformation spreads faster than facts, and Bangladesh is no exception. Viral half-truths, social media manipulation, and digital fatigue have blurred the lines between authenticity and performance. In such an environment, journalism and corporate communication alike face an ethical crossroad. The rise of digital platforms has democratised information, but it has also made it harder to discern truth from trend. For a country like Bangladesh, where nearly 70% people access news through digital platforms, the challenge is accuracy, transparency, and trust.
Corporate sustainability messaging sits at the heart of this tension. Companies are increasingly quick to advertise ‘eco-labels’ and ‘green pledges,’ yet many fail to back them with measurable impact or transparent reporting. These terms are splashed across campaigns without explanation or verification. This kind of performative communication (often called greenwashing) risks undermining genuine sustainability efforts. It’s not just a matter of misleading consumers; it’s an ethical lapse that weakens public trust in both corporate and media institutions.
This is where leadership in communication becomes essential. Ethical leadership demands responsibility in shaping narratives that affect public understanding and behaviour. As someone who has researched ethical reporting on children’s issues in Bangladesh, I’ve seen how stories can either protect or exploit the vulnerable depending on how they are told. The same moral framework applies to sustainability communication. When brands or media outlets prioritise virality over veracity, they distort reality, much like when sensational stories about children’s suffering overshadowed their dignity and agency. In both cases, the audience deserves truth, not theatrics.
The rise of influencer marketing in Bangladesh illustrates this moral dilemma vividly. Influencers now act as intermediaries between brands and consumers, often blurring the line between advertisement and advocacy, allowing misinformation and consumer manipulation to flourish. A 2024 study by the Centre for Governance Studies found that 41% of digital advertisements in Bangladesh used misleading claims about sustainability or social responsibility. Public outcry remains limited because there are few institutional mechanisms that amplify consumer voices.
This disconnect underscores a critical need for leadership that listens and treats communication as dialogue, not monologue. Corporates, journalists, and PR professionals must go beyond tokenistic campaigns and create genuine two-way engagement. This begins with acknowledging that sustainability communication is a shared space between producers and consumers, between institutions and the public.
Journalists, for instance, can play a watchdog role by scrutinising corporate claims about environmental and social responsibility. Investigative reporting on greenwashing or unethical business practices can help hold corporations accountable. Yet, many media outlets in Bangladesh are either under-resourced or beholden to corporate advertisers, making such scrutiny rare. This is where newsroom leadership becomes vital. Training programmes on digital ethics, fact-checking, and sustainability journalism should be integrated into professional development for journalists.
Corporately, public relations practitioners must lead the shift toward transparency. Rather than pushing out glossy sustainability reports, they can adopt open communication frameworks, where key performance indicators like carbon footprint reduction or fair labour standards are publicly measurable. This transparency not only builds trust but also empowers consumers to make informed decisions. PR professionals can also facilitate third-party audits, engage with NGOs, and co-create sustainability campaigns that reflect community voices instead of corporate agendas.
Citizens, too, must be equipped with the tools to question and interpret the messages they receive. Media literacy should be woven into school and university curricula to help young people navigate misinformation, recognise bias, and demand accountability. Bangladesh’s youth, who dominate digital spaces, can become powerful advocates for ethical communication if given the right training and platforms.
Partnerships among universities, media houses, corporates, and civil society organisations could create shared ethical guidelines for sustainability communication. For example, a “Bangladesh Sustainable Communication Charter” could establish voluntary codes for accurate labelling, transparent reporting, and responsible marketing. This would not only elevate industry standards but also create a unified narrative around consumer empowerment.
Bangladesh has already seen glimpses of what such leadership can achieve. During the plastic pollution awareness campaigns in 2022, several youth-led organisations used social media not for green branding but for grassroots mobilisation. They created digital storytelling projects that showcased local innovators making eco-friendly alternatives from jute-based packaging to solar lamps for rural areas. These initiatives gained traction precisely because they prioritised authenticity and community voice over corporate polish. They proved that digital communication, when guided by ethics, can move people from passive awareness to active participation.
The path forward demands that communication professionals in Bangladesh rethink their role in the digital ecosystem. They are not merely transmitters of information but architects of trust. In the age of algorithmic influence and click-driven content, leadership means resisting the temptation of superficial engagement. It means using the power of communication to inform, empower, and mobilise rather than manipulate.
Ultimately, ‘eco-labels’ or corporate sustainability claims will mean little unless consumers are empowered to question them and corporations are willing to listen. Ethical communication is not a decorative layer for sustainability; it is its foundation. Bangladesh’s media and business sectors now stand at a defining moment: they can continue amplifying empty noise, or they can lead a new era of accountability where communication becomes a bridge between corporate promise and public trust.
The writer is a Public Relations professional
