Window dressing

As eyewash or eyewash is called colloquially the distortion of facts, or even hypocrisy with the aim of certain events or actions as less serious or positive display. Translated from the figurative language: The thing does not change, but the look at it.

This is often a matter of self-deception, a misunderstanding of the actual facts. It can be an indirect lie, or at least whitewash and corresponds roughly to the English metaphor eye wash .