The United Nations World Food Program is in search of provocative videos to promote its latest anti-hunger campaign.

It has organized an internet contest, inviting people to post videos on YouTube to raise awareness.

This image from one of the entries shows a man taking part in a food-eating contest.
(YouTube)

"It's a way to create something that will really have a buzz in the internet community, to reach out to young people," Bettina Luescher of the World Food Program said from New York City.

One of the entries in the Hunger Bytes contest shows a line of young men, their faces plunged into plates of spaghetti, as they take part in a food-eating contest. The video features a song with lyrics poking fun at the event:

"Everywhere there's lots of piggies, living piggy lives. You can see them out for dinner with their piggy wives, clutching forks and knives to eat the bacon."

The contest encourages participants to be shocking and controversial, Luescher told CBC Newsworld on Saturday.

"We want to do more than your typical video where you show children who are being fed," she said. "We want to show something edgy … so people talk about it. Hunger is a huge problem."

About 850 million people go hungry every day, but it costs just 10 cents a day for the World Food Program to feed a child, Luescher said, adding that many people are not aware of the facts.

"We are the largest aid organization in the world and we want to make sure that people know about it," she said. "We don't have money for huge advertising campaigns. All of our money goes into our operations, so this is one way to really reach people."

The person whose entry is viewed the most will win a trip for two to Africa, Asia or Latin America to be part of a hunger relief program.

The contest runs until UN World Hunger Day on Oct. 16, 2008.