If you're an advertiser trying to sell widgets, you have lots of choices. For one thing, you can create broad campaigns to try to appeal to as many consumers as possible -- or you can go after certain segments of the population with more focused ads. Most of us are aware that the Hispanic market is drawing a lot of attention from advertisers -- with good reason, since Hispanics now make up roughly 14% of America's population, with their spending power increasing faster than that of the overall U.S. population. It's no accident that this year's Super Bowl included a Toyota (NYSE:TM) commercial featuring a Hispanic father and son in a 2007 hybrid Camry.

Another group being increasingly courted by marketers is America's gay population. An article at commercialcloset.com noted a recent Subaru campaign starring Martina Navratilova: "Up until 2000, Navratilova won more tournaments (167) than any other player in history, male or female, and yet most advertisers were fearful of being endorsed by an open lesbian. She did make brief appearances for Apple Computer (NASDAQ:AAPL) and New York Times (NYSE:NYT), and now also pitches for Prince racquets."

Here's why you may be seeing more gay-oriented ads: According to commercialcloset.com, one estimate of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) population in America puts it at 7%, encompassing more than 15 million adults. The group's buying power has been estimated at more than $600 billion. Businesses are responding, with 36% of the Fortune 100 exploring marketing to the market.

Of course, more ads targeting gays doesn't just mean more money coming in to company coffers. It also sometimes generates a backlash, such as when more than a dozen anti-gay organizations called for a boycott of Ford (NYSE:F) because of its pursuit of the gay market. There can even be a backlash within the gay community, if the ad is deemed offensive. One recent Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT) commercial, for example, features two cowboys (evoking Brokeback Mountain) discussing the "snack fairy." It incorporates some gay stereotypes, which aren't always welcome, but also doesn't put down the gay characters, earning some points.

We have long recommended that investors keep up with their holdings, ideally at least once per quarter. One way to do so is to keep tabs on marketing efforts, since they can reveal which groups a company is reaching out to. When new campaigns are successful, they can help build market share. It's also worthwhile to assess the effectiveness of individual ads. Some may include nods to the gay community and other subsets of our overall population, but if they do so via stereotypes that offend, they may do more harm than good.

One good place to check out ads targeting gays is on Viacom's (NYSE:VIA) 24-hour gay channel, LOGO, if you get it. You can also pay attention to commercials on mainsteam television networks.

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Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian does not own shares of any companies mentioned in this article.