Hokum
Etymology
American theatrical slang from around 1917, referring to hokey, surefire bits of comedy or sentiment used to please a crowd. It is generally taken to be a blend, fusing "hocus" (as in hocus-pocus) with "bunkum" (empty talk). Both parents point the same way: showy trickery and hollow nonsense, combined into one handy word.
noun · /HOH-kum/
Nonsense; also, cheap sentimental or crowd-pleasing material with no real substance.
What it names
A dual-purpose word for both plain bunk and the calculated schmaltz used to work an audience — useful when both senses apply at once.
Example
The pitch was equal parts real data and pure hokum about "changing the world."
Related idea
Bunkum is straightforwardly empty talk; hokum adds the flavor of theatrical, sentimental crowd-pleasing.