Every year retailers (at least some of them) fight to keep their Black Friday deals and discounts a secret. And every year, they wind up being leaked (or intentionally distributed) online.

Those holiday ads are now starting to crop up online.

BF Ads sent an email to subscribers yesterday, saying it has posted what appears to be OfficeMax’s 48-item Black Friday ad.

“We originally hesitated on posting this advertisement because it appears to be a very early revision of their Black Friday advertisement. There are multiple misspellings (e.g. “consule” instead of “console” and “brower” instead of “browser”) and bad grammar throughout most of the advertisement,” BFads.net said in its email.

“On the positive side, all of the items look legitimate (correct SKU #’s) and the prices aren’t out of the ordinary for a Black Friday advertisement. ”

But buyer beware. By Friday afternoon the ad had been pulled from the site and there was a  link to a cease and desist letter from Office Max’s lawyers.

“Not only is most or all of the information BFads.net is disseminating regarding OfficeMax advertisements and sales false or misleading, such information is also misapproriated OfficeMax confidential information,” the letter states.

BF Ads said it was their first cease and desist letter of 2009 and it “touches on some of the reasons why we were hesitant to post the advertisement in the first place.”

“While we warn that no advertisements released early on this site should be regarded as ‘official,’ the majority we receive turn out to be the final version of the advertisement. This was not the case with OfficeMax’s advertisement and to prevent visitor/buyer confusion, we are cooperating with this Cease & Desist and have removed the advertisement scan along with the item listings.”

Stay tuned.  More ads cannot be far behind.

(Photo: Reuters)

Check out the fifth straight drop in U.S. retail sales.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales fell 1.8 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted $355.66 billion following a revised 2.9 percent plunge in October.

Excluding motor vehicles and parts, sales were down 1.6 percent in November after a revised 2.4 percent October fall.

One reason for the decline (besides the struggling consumer) – gas prices.  Gasoline sales plummeted a record 14.7 percent after falling 12.9 percent in October, the data showed. Prices at the pump have fallen significantly and that is reflected in the retail sales report, which compiles total sales by gasoline stations.

The data also showed that sales of furniture, electronics and clothing were up in November after decreasing in October.  Looks like those Black Friday deals were able to rouse skittish consumers into a spending mode.

But the question remains — how much have retailers put profits at risk to gain sales?

Also in the basket:

KB Toys files for bankruptcy

Consumer Anxiety in China Set to Jolt Economy (WWD, subscription required)

Rising Retailer Threat: Liquidations  (WSJ, subscription required)

(Photo/Reuters)