The Boy Scouts of America have lost another corporate sponsor that wants no part of the organization's stance on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Following in the footsteps of Intel and UPS, the Merck Foundation announced it would suspend all funding to the Boy Scouts until the ban on gay scouts and scout leaders is lifted.

Results from the Consumer Reports' Holiday Poll show that 66 million Americans have not begun the trench warfare that is holiday shopping. That's more than a third (36%) of Americans. At the time of the report and with just three weeks until Christmas Day, most had more than half of their shopping left to do. And that's despite two-thirds of holiday shoppers being active online or in-store during the Black Friday weekend.

Laptops aren't disappearing, though tablets get the love. Over 300 million laptops cross sales counters yearly. This year, they also got more sophisticated and affordable. It's also a year in which introduced Retina display and Microsoft released Windows 8. The nine that matter this year -- at the jump -- include the MacBook Pro, Asus Zenbook Prime, Toshiba's Yoga, and, of course, MacBook Air.

Virgin Atlantic has created the role of customer service director and recruited former Eurostar executive Reuben Arnold. The newly created role replaces the position of product and service director. Arnold will be responsible for design, customer experience management, inflight services, on board media and the Clubhouse lounges worldwide.

Chevrolet will have a big pre-show Corvette happening in Detroit next month, but specifics are -- not surprisingly -- leaking out, along with some spy images and renderings, including several appearing in the January 2013 issue of Car And Driver. If you are the type that doesn't want to know the outcome of a game until you see it for yourself on rerun, or prefer to enjoy the traditional histrionics that will certainly accompany the public unveiling of America's best-loved sports car, you might not want to read on.

After vowing to stop gimmicky promotions, J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson seems to be backing off. There was a $10 coupon "gift" and now the J.C. Penney's Friends and Family Event, a three-day promotion with a 20% discount. These efforts seem to undercut the everyday-low-price mantra espoused by Johnson for the struggling retailer.

Microsoft's launch of Windows 8, the Surface and the Windows 8 Phone is a huge departure in terms of digital experience from where the software giant has navigated in the past, writes Tom Pepper, UK sales director, Vibrant Media. He says that the company's shift from windows to app-driven tiles means ads need to be within content not around it, and brands need to think tiles not windows.

A video, posted by Kirby-based Wyoming Whiskey on its Facebook page trumpets the advent of the first bourbon whiskey made in the state. The company's Whiskey Barons campaign includes a website and social media campaign. Wyoming Whiskey's first batch, limited and available only to Wyomingites, sold out to retailers in four minutes and stores who filled pre-orders from customers quickly found themselves sold out as well.

Macy's will have most of its stores open continuously for the 48 hours leading up to Christmas Day. The "One Day Sale" event will run from Friday, Dec. 21, at 7 a.m. through Sunday, Dec. 23, at 7 a.m. Thirty-four Macy's stores will be open until 2 a.m. on Dec. 24 while 23 others will be open until close of business on Christmas Eve. The company offered extended hours starting in 2006 in New York, adding in other locations that were open for 24 hours before Christmas along the way.

Veteran music industry executive John Monopoly has been named Urban Marketing Director of Pheed, a new social network that launched earlier this year. Pheed, which launched in October in Los Angeles, lets people share text, photos, videos, voice notes, audio clips and live broadcasts. Users can monetize their "Pheed" by charging a monthly subscription fee, or by pay-per-view broadcasts of live events.