Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Abstract: “(Un)sustainable fashion: H&M breaks promise.” “H&M sued for greenwashing claims, again.” “H&M under fire!” Helena Holgersson is sitting in her office on the top floor of H&M’s Stockholm Headquarters staring at the headlines flickering on her computer screen. It has been a week of intensive media coverage on the latest greenwashing accusations towards the company she has been in charge of since she was appointed CEO two years ago. Or shall we say: another week? Throughout her quarter-century at H&M, the company had faced repeated criticism over environmental pollution, exploitation and customer delusion. Meanwhile, H&M had taken numerous initiatives to make the company a sustainable industry leader, setting up ambitious environmental goals and a circular mission, reporting yearly, taking measures to strengthen workers' rights, and innovating textile production processes for the better. Damned if we do good, damned if we don’t, Holgersson murmurs and turns away from her computer. Is the criticism ever going to stop? Every measure taken seems to only make the media more eager to find flaws in H&M’s operations and with every negative headline the company risks losing trust among their stakeholders. Torn, the CEO turns back to her computer and starts writing an email to the executive team: Subject: Should H&M continue to be vocal about their sustainability efforts?