INUVIK - Inuvik-born artist Myles DeBastien is appealing to Northerners to help him win an international competition this week.

Now based in Yellowknife, DeBastien, 28, created an animated short for an online contest hosted by Frito Lay, the makers of Doritos brand tortilla chips.

Myles DeBastien enjoys a mouthful of the new Doritos tortilla chip flavour he calls Cactus Ash. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

The company asked chip-fans to design a short video naming a new brand of tortilla chip. DeBastien named the spicy new snack Cactus Ash.

His video depicts a cartoon cactus combusting from the intense desert heat. He completed the video last week using software on his Play Station 3 console.

DeBastien hopes to get 10 million views before the contest deadline on March 31. He has logged almost 800 views since the video went viral on March 21.

"Go to Youtube, watch it, make it a favourite video and share it with other people and tell them to share it with other people," he said.

DeBastien said his family back in Inuvik will likely help him out. He hopes his uncle Leonard DeBastien will show the video to his grandma, Effie DeBastien. On his mother's side, he is confident that his Aunt Ruth Wright and Uncle Dennis Wright will encourage their friends to check out the video.

He also has several cousins in Inuvik that he is counting on to help him win.

DeBastien has experimented with animation before, having produced a short stop-motion movie featuring a G.I. Joe action figure and a stuffed dog toy. That movie is reminiscent of the popular TV show Robot Chicken.

He is also inspired by video games such as the recently released Battlefield: Bad Company II and Heavy Rain and television shows such as The Simpsons and Family Guy. Growing up DeBastien used to get ideas from Japanese anime, Conan comic books and Mad Magazine that he used to recreate in his sketch pad.

If DeBastien wins the $250,000 prize for the Doritos contest he said he would put the money toward courses at the Vancouver Film School, where he plans to study video game design and animation next year.

Although he is hyping the sweet and spicy flavoured tortilla chips this month, DeBastien is quick to advise youth that a healthy diet should be their first dietarypriority.

"Diabetes is a big concern in the North and I just want to remind people that chips and pop are OK once in awhile, but only in moderation," he said. "People should try to eat healthy every chance they get."

To view DeBastien's new video, visit www.nnsl.com/arts.