facade (as in something that is impressive-looking but which hides or covers up undesirable conditions or facts) n.: Potemkin village
[This term derives from Grigori Potemkin, a Russian statesman, who had impressive fake villages erected along the route that Catherine the Great was to travel.] [M]any people thought the show of diversity [at the 2000 Republican Convention] was too over the-top to be taken as sincere. . . . Alan Brinkley [stated:] “The level of artificiality in this is so palpable that it’s hard to imagine that many people believe this is the true Republican Party on display. It’s a Potemkin village.” In fact, he said, Republicans have not attracted sizeable number of black voters in many decades. (Nita Lelyveld, “Skepticism Remains on GOP Efforts to Woo Minorities,” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, 8/4/2000.)
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