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Philip Morris targeted gays in 1990s, say documents 

In its push to find new smokers, tobacco giant Philip Morris targeted America's increasingly visible gay community as an enticing new market -- only to distance itself after negative publicity, according to once-secret industry documents examined by University of California-San Francisco researchers.

The researchers detail how, in the early 1990s, Philip Morris first began advertising Benson and Hedges cigarettes in gay-oriented publications as marketers touted the burgeoning community's brand loyalty and spending clout.

But as unfavorable news reports and some angry, conservative consumers questioned the cigarette maker's maintaining its macho ``Marlboro Man'' image, Philip Morris quickly emphasized that it was not targeting gays and downplayed its advertising in gay publications, saying that it was also advertising in Penthouse and Playboy.

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