Oy vey! The 7 biggest corporate holiday blunders

The last six weeks of the year are a make-or-break period for retailers, but sometimes corporations go to far -- or fall way too short -- when trying to inspire consumers to buy their products.

This year has provided a stocking full of corporate holiday blunders, which have caused outrage, befuddlement and even calls for boycotts. The mistakes have come from some of America's top marketers, which shows that experience and money can't always protect companies from stepping on Santa's toes.

Part of the issue may be the changing culture of America, which has become progressively less religious over the past few decades. Only 59 percent of Americans said they were members of a church or synagogue in 2013, down from 70 percent in 1992, according to Gallup. As a result, companies are toning down their seasonal language, omitting "Christmas" in favor of "holidays," as they try to appeal to a broad base of consumers.

Of course, many holidays are packed into this season, including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and, in some Muslim communities, the birth date of the Prophet Muhammad.

The erasure of "Christmas" from corporate lingo has in itself caused a backlash from some corners, with conservative commentators such as Bill O'Reilly calling it a "War on Christmas." (O'Reilly, by the way, last year said he had won the war because a majority of Americans said Christian symbols were fine for government property.)

The country's changing demographics haven't stopped Americans from taking umbrage at perceived and real holiday blunders. And in the age of social media, outrage can quickly become viral, with companies finding themselves in the crosshairs of angry consumers.

Read on to learn about the seven biggest corporate holiday blunders this year.

Starbucks' red cup

The coffee controversy started when Starbucks (SBUX) brought back its iconic holiday red cup, but with one major change: This year's cups lack the company's traditional winter designs, such as snowflakes and ornaments. The unadorned red cups were decried by evangelist Joshua Feuerstein, who wrote on Facebook that Starbucks "removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus."

His solution was telling the barista his name is "Merry Christmas," a strategy that he encouraged others to copy. While some took up his cry of outrage, not everyone was convinced. One consumer wrote on Twitter, "what do snowflakes have to do with Jesus anyway?"

Still, Starbucks has been on a roll this year as its most recent quarterly same-store sales rose 8 percent. Given that many core Starbucks customers probably couldn't give a caffeinated hoot about Feuerstein's objections, it's not likely to hurt the company's holiday sales.

Reese's trees

Like Starbucks, Hershey's (HSY) also has a holiday tradition: reshaping its iconic Reese's peanut butter cups into tree-shaped candies.

This year, though, consumers started a Twitter-storm over the candies, noting that this year they were shaped more like something you might find in a toilet. Radio station Z100 New York posted a photo of one of the candies with the caption, "That awkward moment when the Reese's Christmas Trees actually look like, um, something else."

But the goof quickly turned to a win for Hershey's, which took the ridicule and turned it upside down with a good-natured message. Using photos of lumpy-looking brown trees, Reese's included the hashtag #AllTreesAreBeautiful. The brand also urged people to stop "tree shaming."

Fans applauded the brand for turning a potential fail into a holiday miracle. "Well played Reese's," one Twitter user wrote. "Well played."

Target's OCD sweater

Target (TGT) was clearly aiming for the holiday funny bone with its sweater blazoned with "OCD Obsessive Christmas Disorder," but the item backfired when consumers accused the retailer of trivializing mental illness.

Despite the outrage, Target said it wasn't going to back down. The sweater is still available on Target.com, although its price has been slashed to $19.60, instead of $27.99.

Bloomingdale's “creepy” holiday ad

The desire to sell some holiday merchandise inspired Bloomingdale's to create an ad that was criticized by The Washington Post as "creepy" and others to accuse it of promoting date rape. The ad featured an unsmiling man staring at a smiling woman, whose face was turned away from him, with the caption, "Spike your best friend's eggnog when they're not looking."

Bloomingdale's apologized for the ad, saying it was "inappropriate and in poor taste."

Washington Redskins' "Happy Thanksgiving" tweet

Thanksgiving hasn't caused as much outrage as Christmas-related blunders, possibly because it's not a religious holiday. But that doesn't mean Thanksgiving hasn't got a lot of baggage, as the Washington Redskins proved last month.

The team, which is under pressure to change its name because "redskins" is considered a racial slur against Native Americans, sent out a "Happy Thanksgiving" tweet last month, which prompted a barrage of criticism on social media.

"Remember how you continue to disrespect half of the people that were at Thanksgiving? Neat," one Twitter user wrote.

Simon Property Group’s bare-bones mall Santa

Messing with an icon can be tricky business, as Simon Property Group found out this year. The mall operator installed a stripped-down design for its Santa displays, throwing out the traditional trappings -- such as a lighted tree and North Pole-themed decorations -- in favor of what could be described as "space-age glacier."

The white, minimalist design received a hearty "bah, humbug" from parents, and some shoppers started a "Boycott Simon Malls" group on Facebook. "We are boycotting Simon Malls because they have decided that it was time for 'New Traditions,'" the group posted on Facebook. "We (the loyal shoppers) do not want to replace our old traditions."

Simon relented, adding a tree back into the mix.

Paypal referred to Santa's "true identity"

Paypal learned the hard way that companies shouldn't throw shade on Santa. The company's holiday ad in Britain caused parents to abandon their stiff upper lips and complain about its message, which implied that Santa, well, may have another identity.

The spot featured a boy and his younger brother worried they wouldn't find presents under the tree because they hadn't seen their parents shopping. Parents were also angered by the fact that the ad was running before 9 p.m., when children were likely to see it.

Paypal apologized and said it was working on putting the ad into rotation later in the evening.