Two years ago this month, Philip Morris, Inc., lit the long-cigarette craze with its two-puffs, three-puffs, maybe-even-five-puffs longer, 100-mm. Benson & Hedges. Sales increased so suddenly that all cigarette companies rushed into the longs market. Of the 17 new brands, 15 were 100-mm.; of these, 13 were stretch versions of existing brands. Long cigarettes now have 13% of the market, and the field is getting overcrowded.
Philip Morris this week is trying a new approach. The company has come out nationally with Virginia Slims, a 100-mm. regular or menthol filter cigarette that it hails as "the cigarette for women only."
Philip...
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