Consumer Reports has issued its annual list of the companies it considers to have the virtues of Scrooge, and those that have acted as exemplars of Christmas. You can see some of the list at the jump, but BMW is naughty while Honda is nice.

All are hoping to avoid misfires during a crucial selling season. Last year the two-month period between Thanksgiving and New Year's accounted for nearly a quarter of annual sales for department stores, discounters and other chains, according to the National Retail Federation. Anxious to preserve their sales in a hyper-competitive market, retailers are taking some chances.

DURING Thanksgiving week, the aroma of pumpkin pie wafts throughout the land, as it has for generations. But these days, chances are the source of the smell is not actually pie. While Starbucks, now serving its seasonal pumpkin spice latte for the ninth year, is often credited with helping popularize the flavor, pumpkin spice has spread to myriad categories.

The Griswolds, the fictional family from the campy, comedic "National Lampoon's Vacation" series, will reprise its role in five commercials for the retailer. In the first spot, Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase, reenacts the famous scene where his family shivers outside while he tries to flip the switch on the Christmas lights on their house.

For AC/DC, selling songs on iTunes has been a highway to hell. On Tuesday, the band brand, which has refused iTunes since the service launched, gave in. Now, Garth Brooks is the only major recording artist to continue holding out.

Some 84% of CPGs are now using digital coupons, with 45% using them in a "supporting" role because of its limited scale. Another 42% said they have dipped a "toe in the water" to test the offers, according to a new survey by the Shopper Technology Institute, conducted by Partners in Loyalty Marketing. The reasons these coupons are used, as reported by 13% of respondents, is to do the strategic work of "securing incremental merchandising at key retailers" and to "amplify an integrated marketing campaign." Not one respondent reported that digital coupons were very successful.

Anna Adriani, global PR director and chief sustainability officer for Illycaff, is in Melbourne at the World PR Forum - the first time the forum has been held in Australia. In a Q&A, Adriani talks about organizational culture, setting up a University of Coffee, and managing the stakeholders. "Being a very small global, multinational company - we are in 140 countries with our products, and we source our coffee from more or less 15 different countries - we are really a small company that is present, more or less, all over the world."

Victoria's Secret has tapped Mobile Corporation's Rich Media Messaging Software to run its first nationwide mobile messaging campaign to promote its VSX Sexy Sport line with the "Train Like An Angel" video series. The videos show the models working out.

Rite Aid is offering Black Friday discounts early at its stores this year. The pharmacy chain said it would open its stores from at least 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and email Black Friday survival guides with shopping tips and savings to customers. The guides also offer deals on Gatorade, bottled water, Red Bull and healthy snacks. The National Retail Federation predicts that 71 million shoppers will visit retailers over Black Friday weekend.

More and more retailers are offering turkeys this season that were raised sustainably, carrying such labels as free-range, organic and heritage or heirloom. The turkeys can cost as much as $10 per pound, but they are relatively guilt free and will find a market among environmentally conscious consumers looking for an alternative to the conventional Butterball. "In regards to the heirloom, now those are the old-fashioned turkeys. Kind of like back in the Pilgrim days in regards to that," said Eddie Garcia, general manager of Jimbo's...Naturally!, a four-unit natural food store based in San Diego.