Boondoggle
Etymology
The word first meant a braided leather cord or lanyard made as Boy Scout craftwork, a coinage attributed to a scoutmaster around 1929. It exploded into public use in 1935, when a New York Times report used "boondoggling" to mock federal make-work relief projects. The origin of the original craft term itself is obscure. From "pointless handicraft" it became "pointless project."
noun · /BOON-dog-ul/
A wasteful, pointless project that consumes time or money to little real purpose.
What it names
A pointed name for the elaborate initiative that mostly exists to look busy or spend a budget — sharper and funnier than "waste of money."
Example
The new intranet redesign turned into a two-year boondoggle that nobody ended up using.
Related idea
A snafu is a mess caused by chaos or error; a boondoggle is wasteful by its very design.