It’s baaaaack! If you’ve been driving on the Downtown Connector in the past week, you might’ve been presently surprised that one of Atlanta’s beloved entertainment landmarks is back!
Adult Swim, the Atlanta-based studio behind Rick and Morty, SMILING FRIENDS, Robot Chicken and more, is celebrating its quarter century anniversary this year… and with its anniversary, the media company has brought back their iconic Downtown billboard! Keep scrolling to learn more.
Adult Swim’s Downtown billboard
The shining beacon, which sits atop Adult Swim’s headquarters, shows a rotating series of funny, irreverent messages & adorable kittens to commuters on I-75/I-85.
The building, located at 1065 Williams Street NW, is the longtime home base of Williams Street Productions, the in-house studio for Adult Swim and part of the Turner/Cartoon Network ecosystem. It originated as part of Ted Turner’s earliest broadcast operations in 1976, when he purchased the site for WTCG, the station that evolved into WTBS.
From there, the facility became the headquarters of Williams Street Productions, the creators of Adult Swim.
Why did the billboard go dark?
So now, you might be wondering… why did the iconic billboard go dark at all? And why is it back? Great questions.
The team at Adult Swim shut off the billboard in 2020 during COVID. Work from home staffing reductions meant fewer people were available to actually update and operate the billboard.
But now, to celebrate the big 2-5, the billboard is back, and ATL drivers couldn’t be more excited.
Happy 25, Adult Swim! You’re old enough to rent a car now… and sit in traffic! If you spot it in traffic, be sure to tag us on Instagram, @secret_atlanta!