Barnumize

verb6

1. •
   To promote with bombast, exaggeration, or outright falsehood; to hype or sensationalize.
2. •
   To dumb down, cheapen, or vulgarize something, especially to create entertainment that appeals to coarse or unsophisticated tastes.

   • Kushner expects his boxers to make nasty remarks, scripted or otherwise, to Barnumize their sport in the manner of Bob Luce's version of wrestling promising gore for the paying fools. — 1983
3. •
   To seek or attract attention, especially through ostentation.
4. •
   To obtain money through fraudulent or deceitful means; to swindle or con.
5. •
   To enliven something, especially a spectacle or attraction.

   • There is nothing unusual at first appearance of this man who Barnumized the Classics and shook them and modern stage production into a new vitality. — 1922
6. •
   To spread inaccurate or false information.