red herring

Noun

• a first draft of a prospectus; must be clearly marked to indicate that parts may be changed in the final prospectus
  • because some portions of the cover page are printed in red ink a preliminary prospectus is sometimes called a red herring
    

• a dried and smoked herring having a reddish color

• any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  preliminary prospectus , smoked herring