(CNSNews.com) – Sixteen retailers top the “naughty list” of the American Family Association’s 2017 Naughty or Nice list.
Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Family Dollar, Foot Locker, Gap, The Limited, Maurice’s, Nordstrom, Office Depot, Office Max, Pet Smart, Staples, Stein Mart, Supervalu, UncommonGoods.com, and Victoria’s Secret are listed as “naughty.”
Thirteen of those “naughty” companies have that classification because the “Company may use ‘Christmas’ sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as a company, does not recognize it.”
Meanwhile, Best Buy and UncommonGoods.com are classified as “naughty,” because the “Company refers to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others.”
And Family Dollar is classified as “naughty” because it “shamelessly opens their stores on Christmas morning, showing they think more of the dollar than the family.”
Ten retailers are classified as “marginal,” because they refer “to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others.” Those retailers are: Academy Sports + Outdoors, Amazon.com, CVS Pharmacy, Dollar General, Kohl’s, Old Navy, Safeway, Sears, Starbucks, and Walgreens.
On the AFA’s “nice list” are 51 retailers: 1-800-Flowers.com, Ace Hardware, AFA Online Store, Banana Republic, Bass Pro Shops, Bath & Body Works, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk, Big Lots, Books-A-Million, Cabela’s, Cracker Barrel, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dillards, Do-It-Best Hardware, Dollar Tree, Fred’s, H.E.B. Stores, HSN.com, Hallmark, Harbor Freight, Harris Teeter Stores, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Hy-Vee Stores, JCPenney, JoAnn Fabrics, Kirkland’s, Kmart, Kroger, L.L. Bean, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Marshalls, Meijer, Menard’s, Michael’s Stores, Neiman Marcus, Pier One Imports, ProFlowers.com, Publix, QVC.com, Rite Aid, Sam’s Club, Scheels Sporting Goods, Super D Drug, TJ Maxx, Toys R Us, True Value, Wal-Mart, and Zappos.com.
According to the AFA, most of the companies on the nice list use “the term ‘Christmas’ on a regular basis” and are considered “Christmas-friendly.” Sam’s Club, Fred’s, and Bath & Body Works refer to “Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others.”
Seven of the companies on the nice list – Cracker Barrel, Michael’s Stores, Lowe’s, Kirkland’s, Hobby Lobby, AFA Online Store, and Wal-Mart – are considered “an AFA “5-Star” rated company that promotes and celebrates Christmas on an exceptional basis.”
The AFA considers five areas to determine whether a company is “Christmas-friendly” in their advertising: print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website, social media (Facebook, Twitter) and/or personal visits to the store.
For instance, if an ad refers to items associated with Christmas, like trees, wreaths, or lights, that was considered an attempt to reach “Christmas” shoppers.
The list is continually updated
