Radio is in a state of flux. Stations now have to compete against satellite radio and iPods, not to mention an unprecedented selection on the radio dial.

No matter how great the DJ, AM and FM frequencies have resorted to scandalous contests to garner a few extra earlobes.

Cue Amp 90.3′s Breast Summer Ever contest.  The new promotion asks women from across the city to submit photos of their chests in order to win $10,000 for a boob job. Bigger or smaller: your choice.

First off, what happened to winning movie passes or even a trip? I still get misty-eyed thinking about the time I won a salad bowl from CIHI in New Brunswick. I guess I’ve always thought people just liked winning no matter what the prize.

Quite simply, the contest is a blatant ratings grab for a struggling station. It’s a business, after all.

Some of you probably hadn’t even heard of Amp before Breast Summer Ever. For their promotions department, consider the recent media onslaught a mission accomplished.

Of course, as the girl who wears her bikini top to the Stampede or the guy who drives a Maserati down 4th Street have demonstrated, not all attention is good. But let’s not kid ourselves: people who are this insecure will often settle for whatever attention they can get.

The Kardashians have made millions from this very philosophy.

What this contest does is change lives – for the worse, according to some; for the better according to others.

We all lead different lives and experience different things, so far be it for this column to decide which is which. Either way, to change one’s life is a huge responsibility and after the winner’s 15 minutes of fame are up, they’ll be left alone to deal with the ramifications of modifying their body. I’m not sure I’d let the 10th place radio station (recent PPM stats) have that much influence over my life.

Not that I don’t understand wanting to change your body. On the contrary: as someone who was bald in high school I know exactly what it’s like to look yourself in the mirror and wish something was different. But then I got older, some would say wiser, and realized that a doctor would literally have to peel back my scalp and insert hair from my leg if I ever wanted to fix things, I decided that I might as well just love the deck of cards I was dealt and I haven’t looked back.

For a station that regularly plays Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, it’s interesting that Amp 90.3 is promoting the alternative.