Benoni rocks!

We had booked two nights at a lodge in Johannesburg, one night on the way to our safari camp, and one night one the way back. It was just what we wanted-- a decent (and cheap) place right by the airport. Technically, though, it wasn't in Johannesburg, it was in a suburb called Benoni.

If it happened to come up in conversation that we were staying in Benoni (or were on our way there) we got some interesting responses. Sometimes we'd get a tactful "Benoni? Huh. Are you staying with family or friends or something?" More often we'd get a "What the hell are you doing there?" or a suppressed laugh.

Benoni looks a little like Phoenix: mostly wide boulevards, strip malls and ranch-style homes. It's widely regarded as being "Nowhere". In fact, paradoxically, its so "Nowhere" it actually has become "Somewhere": Benoni is in that category of places like Staten Island, or Hoboken, or San Fernando or Peoria.... bland places that people become strangely sentimental about simply because they're such easy targets. They're famous for being unknown. It cements your status as, say, a local San Franciscan if you can roll your eyes at mention of Oakland.

Campari had a South African ad campaign that relied on a classic double-take: "Where did you taste your first Campari cocktail... Sorrento... Milan... Monaco.... Benoni-!??"

Charlize Theron (who grew up in Benoni) recently made a toungue-in-cheek soundbite/station identifier for a local Johannesburg radio station-- "Hi this is Charlize Theron, you're listening to [K-whatever] and I just want to say BENONI ROCKS!!" The spot was a big hit.