OKLAHOMA CITY — In what might be seen as an offbeat though innovative application of YouTube technology targeted at a teen and college audience, the $1.5 billion Tinker Federal Credit Union said Wednesday it is promoting a "make your own video" contest complete with Web site and prizes for the best entries.

"We thought we'd give this a try and see how it goes," said Matt Stratton, senior vice president of marketing in detailing the Feb. 1 online launch of the "What Money Means To Me Video Contest" providing a $2,000 scholarship prize to the winner producing the most creative 90-second video.

As part of the promotion, Tinker said it was sending out e-mails this week to 600 college professors and select high school officials across the state to debut the competition and invite young people to submit entries using a special Tinker Web site, www.whatmoneymeanstome.org.

The contest has strict rules, said Stratton, dealing with "inappropriate" submissions but the goal is to attract a youthful audience which would look favorably on CUs as a place to eventually open an account.

"I can say the idea has already been met with great enthusiasm from our business development reps who have talked about it with their contacts at schools and universities," said Stratton.

Tinker said the contest will continue through April 1 with winners selected by a panel of judges and voted on by viewers. Tinker said also it would post announcement of the contest on its Facebook page.