• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 17, 2012

KFC is backing a Comedy Central Web series poking fun at millennials living at home. The restaurant chain will offer five contest winners $12,500 each in cash, deemed to be more than enough to afford rent for a year.

Besides shelter, each winner will also get an additional $600 to spend at KFC.

The five-episode series, “Growing Up and Getting Out,” targets what Comedy Central says are the one in four millennials moving back in with their parents.

The initiative, which dovetails with a national KFC TV campaign, runs through August 20. It’s staged at a freerentcontest.com micro-site, where contest entrants upload photos and comical tales about living at home.

The series of original shorts, which might carry the title “Growing Up and Coming Back,” focus on the amusing experiences “Michael” has while moving back home. KFC pre-roll spots come before the videos.

KFC is using the series as part of its campaign for its “original recipe bites,” which the company says marks its most extensive product launch since grilled chicken. A TV spot began airing earlier this month, featuring a 20-year-old playing videogames in his parents’ basement. His parents are frustrated and want to talk until they get a taste of the “bites” he’s eating and let him play on.