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AUCKLAND -- The Y2K Readiness Commission has pulled an advertisement advising households to prepare for the millennium bug, in which its symbol, Cockroach Ken, says: "If the worst comes to the worst, I can always eat a wife."

Cockroach Ken is the symbol in the commission's $2.5 million public information campaign, chosen because the insects are "ultimate survivors".

The commission showed the advertisement recently at a briefing of business and industry representatives in Wellington. A source at the briefing said the adverts had raised eyebrows.

The commission confirmed the advertisement had been changed after two screenings because it might have offended people. "Someone got concerned about it being politically incorrect," communications manager Lyle Griffiths said.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), September 08, 1999