Companies Support Troops With Little Freebies and Big Media

For married members of the military, the holidays are either special or especially miserable, depending on your family's perspective and the soldier's deployment status. Not one to give holiday bonuses (with which to buy that new stove I've been desiring), the military instead showers its troops with entertainment -- like the famous USO tour that is in Kuwait this week.

Keen to make what they hope is a heartwarming splash with military families, companies often step forward with big, generous-sounding offers. From Kenmore's social media campaign to send a dozen cookies to each deployed soldier (all you have to do is to "like" them on Facebook) to a variety of online retailers offering free or cheap shipping to APO addresses.