This week's winners, losers and newsmakers.

Winners

Miller Lite: The Molson Coors brand is putting the beer in Christmas cheer with a Holiday Tree Keg Stand, “so you can drink draft Miller Lite straight from your evergreen tree,” it announced earlier this month. And people are drinking it up. The keg stand, described as a “fully-functioning tree stand designed to fit perfectly around a quarter barrel keg of Miller Lite,” went on sale at a special website on Nov. 10 for $49.99. It sold out in 45 seconds, according to Molson Coors, prompting the brewer to run sweepstakes to give away five of them from Nov. 14 to Nov. 23. The marketing upshot: The website asks entrants for personal information that can be used for remarketing, although there is an option to opt out.

Toyota: The Japanese auto brand tops Consumer Reports’ latest auto reliability rankings, as reported by Automotive News. Lexus, also owned by Toyota, ranks second. Elon Musk’s Telsa came in 19th, while Mercedes-Benz is in last place in the 24th spot. BMW, its German rival, finished third. But there is a caveat: "The short answer of it really has to do with BMW and Mercedes-Benz's current approach to technology," Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports, told Auto News, noting that Mercedes has been more aggressive in adopting new technology, which means more bugs and glitches.

Private label: The big food winner this Thanksgiving could be so-called private label products, also known as store brands, which are cheaper alternatives to brand names. Numerator reports that 87% of consumers expect inflation to affect their Turkey Day shopping, and 34% will switch to store brands to save money.

Read more about private label products here

Losers

Target: After years of growth, the retailer is beginning to suffer the effect of consumer pullback amid higher prices. In its third-quarter report, Target posted total revenue of $26.5 billion, a 3% rise over the year-earlier period, and a $712 million profit, less than half of the $1.5 billion profit from the third quarter of last year. Company executives said they expect current challenges to continue, according to a CNBC report. Investors aren’t waiting around to find out. Target shares fell more than 15% in Wednesday trading. Of course, the retailer is not alone. Kohl’s reported a 7.2% decline in third-quarter net sales, over the year-earlier period, on Thursday.

Ticketmaster: Never underestimate the collective power of Taylor Swift fans. Ticketmaster found that out the hard way this week when it crashed shortly after opening for presale tickets for Swift’s 2023 U.S. “Eras Tour.” Millions of Swifties looking to buy tickets created “historically unprecedented demand,” according to Ticketmaster, which had to reschedule the sale. It then canceled Friday's public sale altogether. It’s going to be tough for the ticket-selling platform to shake this off.

FTX: The implosion of the cryptocurrency exchange continued this week following FTX’s bankruptcy filing on Nov. 11. Recent reports suggest FTX could owe money to over 1 million creditors. Now, the company and founder Sam Bankman-Fried have been sued by an investor claiming the brand’s marketing campaigns lured in “unsophisticated investors” by using spokesmen such as Tom Brady and Stephen Curry. Both athletes have also been named in the Miami, Oklahoma-filed lawsuit as defendants.

Tweet of the week

Number of the week

93%: Share of consumers who say they plan to adjust their holiday gift shopping this year because of higher prices, according to Numerator.

Quote of the week

“Airbnb was born in the Great Recession of ’08 and money was a big concern like it is now.” –Hiroki Asai, global head of marketing at Airbnb, about a new campaign encouraging consumers to rent out their homes to earn extra money.

On the move

Tripadvisor appointed John Boris chief marketing officer. He was most recently chief growth officer at Immutable, a gaming company.