Chapped lips and a Star Wars-inspired idea helped Ryan Leer of Eden Prairie nab $5,000 and a high-def camcorder as the grand-prize winner of a YouTube contest sponsored by the Milwaukee-based maker of Carmex lip balm, which announced the results today. The goal was to create a video that answered the question, “How do you share the Carmex tingle”? Leer responded with a playful clip, Carmex: Share the Tingle With Caution, in which he cures a buddy’s chapped lips by wielding a “Carmex-saber” – a clever riff on the lightsaber from Star Wars in which a stick of the lip balm serves as the handle for the weapon – complete with convincing visual effects and sound. Leer, 22, can lick his lips all he wants while he savors his victory in the national contest, because he also won a five-year supply of Carmex lip balm.

Leer is on a roll. He previously won a video contest sponsored by KFC.

Check out his Carmex clip:

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 12:41 pm and is filed under YouTube. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.