The story
From maple + -wash / ˈmā-pəl-ˌwȯsh / From the Canadian maple leaf as a national emblem. Formed on the pattern of greenwash and whitewash. The commercial sense most closely parallels greenwash; the older historical and political sense also draws upon whitewash. Earliest known attestations date from 2016; the coinage is commonly, but not conclusively, attributed to Canadian writer Luke Savage.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.