Last month, HuHot Mongolian Grill invited its fans to show their “Inner Warrior” by submitting short videos online.

The video contest was promoted in-store and through online outlets including the “HotClub,” which is HuHot’s email marketing club, as well as Facebook and the HuHot website. Consumers were encouraged to be bold, creative and edgy in showing their inner warrior, and their love for HuHot.

First place receives $1,000, second place receives $200 cash plus a $200 HuHot gift card, and third place receives $100 plus a $100 gift card. Winners will be announced on the HuHot Facebook page today.

“We may end up using the winners’ videos for promotional purposes,” says Monica Minford, HuHot’s director of web development, “but we’re mainly just excited to give guests a new opportunity to show their love for HuHot and reward them for their efforts.”

HuHot received more than 30 video submissions from fans, and of those, 22 two-minute videos passed the initial screening process and were posted on the restaurant’s YouTube channel for all to see. “We’ve been really impressed with the quality of videos we’ve received,” Minford says. “It really shows how passionate our guests are about the brand.”

So far, these videos have received more than 8,000 views on YouTube.

Jimi Shaw from La Crosse, Wisconsin, submitted the winning video. His video is an action packed representation of all the perils associated with trying to find a place to satisfy your hunger. Without summoning his inner-warrior at HuHot, he never could have overcome such obstacles as having his baby actually being a bomb, outrunning jet fighters, and beating ninjas. Once he finally reaches HuHot, all of his troubles are gone and the hunger in his belly has subsided.

The first place video can be found online here.