A word like propaganda but maybe not quite


I'm wondering if there's a word to describe a situation when something is described in such a way that it sounds "inspirational" and "amazing", but once you strip off the marketing and think about how the idea would interact with the real world, you quickly see how bad it is.


For example, let's say someone comes up with a solution to the world's energy problems and all they need to do is let children have more fun and play with this power machine like it is a toy. The resultant reality is of course that child labor is what we're really talking about here.


Perhaps to even say this in a very crude way — it's like being given a treat that looks like a small ball of chocolate, but once you bite down you realize that it was something very nasty coated in chocolate.


Marketing and PR departments mask these things all the time, I really want a word that describes this complex topic so I don't have to re-introduce what I'm saying in such an elaborate way.



Answer



A single word for the advertising itself: hokum


ho·kum (hkm)


n.



  1. Something apparently impressive or legitimate but actually untrue or insincere; nonsense.

  2. A stock technique for eliciting a desired response from an audience.


source


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