What do you get when you combine bright red paint, a street corner in Bryanston and a cryptic challenge? The internet’s new favourite guessing game… with R50,000 up for grabs.
Johannesburg, South Africa (03 July 2025) – Johannesburg’s northern suburbs aren’t usually the epicentre of a public guessing game, but that’s exactly what’s unfolding in Bryanston right now, thanks to one very red wall and a clever bit of marketing mischief.
A few weeks ago, the wall on the corner of Grosvenor and Bryanston Drive quietly changed colour. And this really shouldn’t be news, but it was painted bright red, and the internet (more specifically, Bryanston community groups) lost its collective mind.
Theories flew thick and fast.
“The Red-light district of Bryanston 🤣🤪”
“EFF headquarters”
“Is it a Vodacom advert?”
“Too horrendous for words.”
“New Development landing soon! Watch that wall… All will be revealed”
For a wall, it certainly caused a stir. Whether people loved it, hated it, or were just plain confused, one thing was certain: everyone was talking about it.
Then another clue dropped. Suddenly, there was suggestive writing on the wall.
“Liverpool or Man United?”
“Red Light District Bryanston?”
A Facebook page and website also appeared, offering R50,000 to anyone who could correctly guess who’s behind the red wall. Naturally, this all turned up the heat.
“What in the Squid Games is happening? 😂😂”
“Well played marketing team … people are talking, which is exactly what they want!”
“It looks absolutely awful😂 My au pair kid complained he now has to see it going to school every day 😂”
“Being from Amsterdam, I immediately felt at home when I saw this😂”
“It is very clever, if annoying.”
“It’s so gross.”
“This wall has us all talking…. can’t wait to see what the hype will be for. A new development?”
Even Marialett Emi Koekemoer, the Ward Councillor for the area, joined the conversation.
“Horrible marketing strategy (wink wink nudge nudge) but next time at least heads up your ward councillor so her whole weekend isn’t disturbed by floods of calls.”
But don’t worry neighbours; we only have a few days to go, as all will apparently be revealed on July 15th.
We believe that whoever’s behind this deserves a slow clap. Our social media feeds are filled with branded content, and often, we scroll right on by, but this silly red wall has caught the community’s attention. The campaign, whether you see it as marketing genius or neighbourhood vandalism, has done exactly what it set out to do: get people engaged, talking, speculating, and even… having fun.
And hey, if you can crack the code, you might just walk away with R50,000. Not bad for a bit of guesswork on the morning school run.
*This is not a sponsored post. The Good Things Guy has no affiliation with the company or brand that launched this campaign.
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