‘5 Years for Yunus in Power’: Clickbait Exposed Behind Slogan’s Viral Popularity

Staff Correspondent

A recent slogan circulating on social media—“Dr. Yunus for 5 Years in Power”—initially appears to be a political initiative. However, an investigation by fact-checking platform DismissLab reveals it is a marketing tactic aimed at increasing Facebook page likes and followers.

Marketing, Not Politics

DismissLab’s May 29 report states that various businesses and influencers have adopted the slogan for commercial purposes. Pages promoting food, cosmetics, clothing, and personal blogs have exploited the phrase to attract attention.

Between April and mid-May 2025, 47 Facebook pages ran at least 55 ads using this slogan or similar messages. Notably, 90% of these pages had no prior political content.

The Viral Trend’s Origin

The trend reportedly began with a March 29 Facebook post by Sarjis Alam, an organizer for the National Citizen Party. In his post, Alam expressed a personal desire to see Dr. Yunus as an elected Prime Minister for five years, sparking widespread discussion. Businesses quickly capitalized on the slogan’s popularity for their marketing campaigns.

Clickbait Tactics

For instance, a Dhaka-based restaurant, *The Tasty Apron*, ran two ads on May 13–14, urging users to “like” their page if they supported Yunus in power for five years. The rest of the page’s posts were typical promotional content, such as food photos and recipes.

Advertisers and Intentions

DismissLab’s analysis identified:

• 30 business pages (food, cosmetics, seasonal fruit).
• 8 personal blogs/vlogs.
• 2 media pages
• 7 public figures or digital marketing entities.

Among these, 24 pages were operated from Bangladesh, one from Italy, and another jointly from Bangladesh and the U.S.

DismissLab interviewed six page admins:

• Four claimed digital marketing agencies created the ads.
• One admitted crafting the ad themselves to boost likes.
• Another left content decisions entirely to their marketing firm.

A CEO of one such firm, AM Farooq of Yati Digital, stated, “The sole goal of such content is to grow page followers, as many still equate follower count with credibility.”

Violations of Meta Policies

According to Meta’s guidelines, ads on political or social issues must include disclaimers with verified advertiser information. None of the 55 reviewed ads met this requirement, leading to:

• Removal of 12 ads by Meta.
• Continued activity for the remaining 43 ads.

DismissLab also noted Meta’s limited capacity to detect political content written in Bengali.

Marketing Disguised as Political Advocacy

What appears to be a political movement is, in reality, a calculated effort to manipulate users into boosting page metrics. The findings underscore the misuse of political narratives as tools for clickbait, violating both trust and digital advertising standards.