Sentence:  Although the false glamour surrounding bourbon or other whisky commercials <WSD>is</WSD> possibly no more fatuous than the pseudo-sophistication with which TV soft-drinks are downed or toothpaste applied , there is a sad difference between enticing a viewer into sipping Oopsie-Cola and gulling him into downing bourbon . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)