Chrysler Won’t Renew Ad Deal With Time Warner

Chrysler Corp. said Tuesday that it won’t renew an advertising agreement with Time Warner Inc. worth an estimated $30 million, partly because of the media giant’s relationship with controversial rap singer Ice-T.

John Damoose, Chrysler’s vice president of marketing, said the main reason for the decision was a change in marketing strategy.

But company spokeswoman Rita McKay acknowledged that there was concern about the lyrics of Ice-T’s “Cop Killer” song, which describes killing a policeman.

Ice-T says the song doesn’t advocate violence, but he agreed in July to remove the track from his “Body Count” record after police groups threatened a boycott of Time Warner for distributing it.

“Ice-T was not the sole issue, and we are still very visible in Time Warner publications,” McKay said. “The part we discontinued was . . . a second package under the ‘Rediscover America’ theme.”

Chrysler and Time Warner started a two-year, multimedia marketing association in February, 1991, using the Rediscover America theme. Advertising that uses the theme will end in the fourth quarter of 1992, McKay said.

Separately, Damoose said Chrysler is considering consolidating $400 million in media buying in one agency rather than spreading it among three agencies, as it does now.

Chrysler’s three main agencies are Omnicom Group’s BBDO for Dodge, Bozell Jacobs for the Chrysler and Plymouth brands and Saatchi & Saatchi’s Campbell-Mithun Esty for the Jeep/Eagle brands.