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• dog and pony show
  dog and pony show

  noun

  an elaborate sales, advertising, or publicity presentation or campaign.
• dog-and-pony show
  dog-and-pony show

  An elaborate presentation to gain approval for a product or policy. For example, The administration loved putting on a dog-and-pony show for every minor change of policy. This term alludes to a traveling variety show. [1950s]

dog and pony show

American  

noun

Informal.

1. an elaborate sales, advertising, or publicity presentation or campaign.

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dog-and-pony show Idioms  

1. An elaborate presentation to gain approval for a product or policy. For example, The administration loved putting on a dog-and-pony show for every minor change of policy. This term alludes to a traveling variety show. [1950s]

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Etymology

Origin of dog and pony show

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dog and pony show dog-and-pony show

I remember Bob Iger said to me — he asked me to go to some meeting at ABC; this dog and pony show — and he says, “George, how do we sell Hondas to Latinos?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2024

That means there’s plenty of appetite for a show like “Mister Miss America” — and that it has a lot more to measure up to than a backwater dog and pony show.

From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2022

Smollett told Fox News that he is innocent while entering the court, referring to the proceedings he was about to participate in as a "dog and pony show."

From Fox News ● Jul. 14, 2021

So … how will it be helpful for them to Zoom into class on days when I’m focused on the in-person students and not able to do my usual dog and pony show?

From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2021

This was one dog and pony show I did not need to witness, no matter how good the seats.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

“I’m not going to do a dog-and-pony show and smile in people’s faces and be fake,” Owens said afterward.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 4, 2018

The evaluation of Greitens’ time in office will come from his dedication to the work, his willingness to answer tough questions and his ability to be better than the dog-and-pony show our government has become.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 7, 2017

"We're hopeful this hearing won't be a dog-and-pony show by the bank followed by a rubber-stamp approval of the merger," said opponent Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2015

But this was the first time in which NBC’s presentation—a slightly poky dog-and-pony show at Radio City Music Hall on Monday—actually made it possible to believe its corporate-speak.

From Slate ● May 14, 2012

“The dog-and-pony show is over,” said Randy Wolf, who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers when Manny Ramirez, his teammate then, was suspended three years ago.

From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2012