funwashing noun [U]
UK /ˈfʌn.wɒʃ.ɪŋ/ US /ˈfʌn.wɑː.ʃɪŋ/
the practice of someone taking part in a popular event or show, appearing on television, etc. as a way to improve their reputation with the public
At the same time, former UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage benefits from the same “funwashing” on “I’m a Celebrity Get me out of Here!” as Pauline Hanson, leader of the most successful extreme right party in Australia in recent years, did when she was invited on “Dancing with the Stars” just a moment after her political career plummeted.
[thewire.in, 27 November 2023]
See also -washing, greenwashing, sportswashing
screenwashing noun [U]
UK /ˈskriːn.wɒʃ.ɪŋ/ US /ˈskriːn.wɑː.ʃɪŋ/
the practice of someone appearing on a popular television programme as a way to improve their reputation with the general public
We need a word for the way political figures who have done terrible things are rehabilitated by television. So here’s a candidate: Screenwashing… Screenwashing induces us to forget or trivialise what these people did when they were in politics. It wipes the public memory clean. If you seek to remind people what these figures did when they were in politics, you are considered a spoilsport, a killjoy. This is the way the world ends: not with a bang but a bant.
[twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot, 29 November 2022]
wokewashing noun [U]
UK /ˈwəʊk.wɒʃ.ɪŋ/ US /ˈwoʊk.wɑː.ʃɪŋ/
behaviour or activities to make people believe that a company cares more about social problems such as racism and inequality than it really does
Enter wokewashing. In this phase, brands are co-opting social justice issues like anti-racism, feminism, inequality and mental health awareness. They align themselves with trending socially conscious and cultural issues. Meanwhile, some of the same (or similar) issues they speak up against are being perpetrated within their own company and their supply chains. Such is the dubious art of wokewashing.
[ecostyles.com.au, 23 February 2022]
Hi!
What is the difference between funwashing and screenwashing, exactly? Funwashing relates to people and screnwashing relates to television in general… is it? I would like to understand that better. Thank you so much!
Hi, I think you are absolutely correct! Screenwashing would refer to someone going on a TV show- Jimmy Fallon/ Kimmel/ (maybe even fictitious ones- a la Grey’s Anatomy or other serialized dramas) while Fun washing would be like a military group utilizing tiktok or other media to make themselves seem fun and relatable? As I am explaining this I am finding a hard time distinguishing between the two. Maybe, screenwashing is a term that falls under funwashing which is a broader umbrella category? great question!
there is something very wrong w the sentence: “a military group utilizing tiktok or other media”
Screen = appearance on the television, Fun = appearance AS EXAMPLE on a game show (which happens to be on televisions) as towards appearing more cleanly (Reference: ‘to wash’), with difference that persons intentions with Screenwashing are non-specific, whereas with Funwashing is more specifically to suggest that such persons are of a light-hearted nature (as terrible additions to the dictionary by the way…).
me second to post
As a non-native L2 english speaker I’ve heard of greenwashing so it’s a bit like the mentioned wokewashing and in my native language which is polish there’s a word “CHAJZERować” (infinitive form) which is basically charitywashing. That polish word is a person derived one and came from the fact that every time Filip CHAJZER the TV presenter make something questionable he’ll give money for any charity organization. This state of mind is slightly reflected in a beginning of “Wolf of Wall Street” by the Jordan Belfort character.
Chajzer’s work is very similar to funwashing, Jakub.
And that you mention WOLF OF WALL STREET gives me pause.
Chajzer makes a lot of TV series and films, am I right?
I know this thing I wrote about Wolf of Wall Street was a little bit rich because I didn’t write that I hadn’t meant it generally (It’s not that complex scam scheme and crap underneath; I didn’t lost my marbles lmao) but particularly on this little part when he talks about helping hippopotami or something like that when he isn’t really into it and just for compensating his sins so it fits the word chajzerowanie (I should have specify it because it really sounds like really goofy exaggerating lol). I should have also mentioned that Filip Chajzer’s a funwasher. So yeah, it fits even more.
Btw. Thanks you replied
pinkwashing
banananananawashing: when u put a bananananana in da washin mashin