WASHINGTON – ‘Twas the scandal before Christmas and all through the Internet, not a deal stayed hidden not even … with a “cease and desist letter.”

As has become customary, deal sites are making the rush to post Black Friday ads before they go public. One site, BFAds, got ahold of Sears’ 19-page doorbuster spread.

Ace Hardware went as far as sending BradsDeals.com a “cease and desist” letter when the site leaked its deals.

Later, according to USA Today, lawyers for Ace Hardware sent an ad “approved” for release.

All in all, at least 30 stores say their Black Friday ads were released prematurely.

WTOP’s Del Walters contributed to this report. Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)