Fig.: a distraction that takes attention away from the main issue

I just finished reading a thriller full of traps. You think you guessed who's the killer is and then you find out that the clue you followed is a red herring. You have to start all over again. Interesting!

Ho appena finito di leggere un libro giallo pieno di trappole. Quando pensi di aver capito chi è l'assassino, scopri che hai seguito una falsa pista e devi ricominciare tutto da capo. Intrigante!

The workers asked for a salary raise, the company answered that they were working hard to ensure the best customer service, which had nothing to do with the issue. They were just dragging a red herring on the trail

I lavoratori hanno chiesto un aumento della retribuzione, la società ha risposto che stanno lavorando sodo per assicurare ai clienti la miglior assistenza possibile, argomento che non ha nessuna attinenza con la richiesta. Stanno solo cercando di confondere le tracce.

This phrase originates from the metaphor of dragging a red, smoked and strong-smelling herring across the trail of a fox to throw the hounds off the fox's scent. The journalist William Cobbett is credited with the first figurative use of this expression in 1807, when he criticized the English press - which had prematurely reported Napoleon's defeat - and compared that act to using strong-smelling, smoked red herrings to distract dogs from another scent. Cobbett was accusing the press of intentionally using a fallacy to distract the public.