Tuesday, February 22nd 2011, 4:00 AM

TheRock

FMA radio station contest where the winner get a Ukrainian wife is drawing outrage.

Auckland might earn the name ICKland thanks to an outrageous stunt by a local radio station.

The New Zealand station The Rock FM has sparked international ire for its "Win a Wife" contest, reports MsMagazine. 

The contest winner would be able to choose a Ukrainian bride from an agency that matches women with Kiwis and then receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Ukraine.

But that's not all: the winner also scores $2,000 to spend on his first meeting with his catalogue bride.

The radio station, whose tagline is "Bands, Babes, Balls n' Bull," told listeners to send a contest application, "If you're interested in holy matrimony with a potentially hot foreign chick."

"Some people think it's a little stupid, others see it as what it is, a tongue-in-cheek idea that gives someone the opportunity of a lifetime to travel on an all expenses paid trip to the Ukraine," The Rock program director Brad King told NZ Herald News.

A Facebook protest called "Stop the Rock's 'Win a Wife' campaign'" was soon posted and attracted over 1,300 followers. Government officials from both New Zealand and the Ukraine blasted the radio station for its offensive contest and demanded the plug be pulled. 

Bowing to legal and government pressure, the radio station made a quick edit.

They changed the name of the contest from "Win a Wife" to "Win A Trip To Beautiful Ukraine For 12 Nights And Meet Eastern European Hot Lady Who Maybe One Day You Marry."

Critics are crying foul at the mocking tone that radio station has taken toward its critics.

"The Embassy of Ukraine, the existing Ukrainian New Zealand community and general public opinion in your country… take it as the indecent demonstration of low taste and cultural standards as well as utter disrespect and violation of human dignity directed not only at Ukrainian women but at the entire better part of the humankind," the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Valentyn Adomaytis wrote to the NZ Broadcasting Standards Authority.

In the meantime, the contest goes on and the winner will be selected on Feb. 28.