How literal is this phrase?

Sample examples at http://tinyurl.com/is-it-lit

snake oil:

Definitions:

  1. (medicine) any of various liquids sold as medicine (as by a travelling medicine show) but medically worthless
  2. communication (written or spoken) intended to deceive

Examples:

  1. , fire eaters , prize fighters , acrobats , tumblers , strongmen , puppeteers , snake oil sellers and assorted other circus acts and quacks . Crime , vice and violence flourished
  2. published in the BMJ 2 suggested that he " may prove to be the greatest snake oil salesman of his age " . This scathing obituary and the outrage it generated ,
  3. all drowning in data . Also there are a lot of people trying to sell snake oil and snake oil computers to administrators in secondary and community care . What we need
  4. self help groups , professional advisers . Do not consult astrologists . They are selling snake oil . I watched an interesting TV programme recently testing star sign personalities . 30 members
  5. exercise and keeping hydrated . However , the underlying ' science ' peddled by the snake oil salespeople is bogus . Posted by : Kay | Sunday , May 14 , 2006

Step 1: Select the definition of snake oil which occurs most of the times in the above examples. Ignore other definitions.

Definition1 Definition2

Note: Please select the answers below carefully based on the definition which occurs frequently in the examples

Step 4: score of 0-5 for how literal is the phrase "snake oil"
0 1 2 3 4 5

Please provide any comments in case you want to tell us about your judgement or any other queries/suggestions! Not Mandatory but helpful.