Article: Playboy tries Web to win college students' readership

CHICAGO - The Playboy bunnies have a message for college students returning to campus this fall: We want you.

Riding a wave of renewed popularity among consumers around the globe, Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire is set to launch a sexy social- networking site dedicated solely to college students, its latest online venture as it tries to reinvigorate its stagnant finances.

The launch of Playboy U, which has similar features to those found on Facebook, comes as Playboy's 54-year-old magazine continues to lose money and readers.

To compensate, Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises Inc. is embarking on one of its biggest expansion efforts in years.

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