For more than 14 years, children in Philipstown, a small town in South Africa’s Karoo region, have built racing cars entirely from discarded wire and bottle caps, competing in an annual three-kilometre race through the town’s streets. In a place with high unemployment and few opportunities, the race became one of the only sources of pride and structure available to local youth. Accenture Song South Africa looked at that local tradition and built an entire global storytelling and commerce ecosystem around it.
Where It Started
Kay Fourie, co-founder of the original race and now chairperson of the Philipstown WireCar Foundation, described the origin plainly: “Philipstown is an impoverished town with a lot of social and economic problems, and there was a collective feeling of hopelessness. We saw these kids building incredible toys for themselves out of nothing, and we decided to give them an opportunity, one day a year, to compete and celebrate their skill.” Alistair King, vice-chair of the Foundation and the project’s creative lead, had previously worked at Accenture and brought the idea directly to the company, requesting access to its global talent network: Oscar-winning CGI studios in Hamburg, gaming teams in Hungary and London, and coding teams in South Africa.
The Documentary
The centrepiece is a feature-length documentary titled The Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix, directed by South African director WARD (Paul Ward) and produced by Giant Films in creative partnership with Accenture Song. The film follows eight young racers from the town as they build their wire cars from scratch and prepare for race day, told predominantly in Afrikaans with some Xhosa, subtitled for international audiences. Ward took a deliberately observational approach, choosing not to foreground the hardship and poverty in the community, instead allowing the joy, imagination, and pride of the race to carry the story. Springbok rugby captain Siya Kolisi appears in the film, having spent a day with the children and participated in the wire car race himself.
The documentary blends real documentary footage with a stylised CGI layer: during the actual 2024 race, the children’s handmade cars were fitted with tracking devices, and their real-time movement was translated into a digital environment where the kids could see themselves competing as though inside a Formula 1 or Dakar Rally broadcast, narrated with the pace and energy of F1 commentator Alex Jacques. The film is now streaming globally on Prime Video.
The Mobile Game
Beyond the screen, Accenture Song built the WGP Mobile Game, a free-to-play digital twin of Philipstown created using 360-degree footage of the town and real GPS race data, so the streets, graffiti, and landmarks players race through on their phones are the actual streets of the town. Creative Technology Director Alexander Bosman explained that the team initially tried a hyper-realistic simulation but found true-to-life physics felt punishing rather than fun on mobile, so they shifted to an arcade-style approach, easy to pick up, hard to master, while staying authentic to the spirit of the race. The 3D artists building the in-game wire cars used VR headsets to bend and twist digital wire by hand, replicating the exact process used by the children who build the real ones. In-app purchases are entirely cosmetic, with every cent flowing through the Foundation.
The Foundation and the Economics
The campaign’s launch coincided with the official establishment of the Philipstown WireCar Foundation, which has purchased a building in the town being converted into a community hub and e-learning centre, with planned programmes covering computer training, robotics, and driver’s licence support aimed at creating long-term employment for local youth. An official e-commerce platform now sells authentic, handcrafted wire cars and WGP merchandise made by artisans in Philipstown, with proceeds from both the store and the mobile game’s in-app purchases funding the Foundation’s youth programmes directly.
The Recognition
The Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix has been named an Official Selection at BrandStorytelling 2026, a sanctioned Sundance Film Festival event, and a 2026 Tribeca X Official Selection. It has won multiple Gold, Silver, and Bronze pencils at The One Show, a Webby Award for Documentary Storytelling, a Bronze Clio for Branded Entertainment, and has been shortlisted eight times across categories at Cannes Lions 2026, including the Titanium Lion, alongside shortlist recognition at D&AD and the AICP Next Awards.
Tseliso Rangaka, Chief Creative Officer at Accenture Song, summarised the underlying philosophy: “We didn’t just want to tell the Philipstown story; we wanted to build a platform that allows the world to participate in it. By digitising the town’s culture, we’ve created a campaign that lives beyond a 30-second spot, offering immersive entertainment that drives tangible value.” Alistair King framed the central metaphor that ties the whole project together: “A piece of discarded wire is rusting and of little use. But if you pick it up and work with it, it can be made into something beautiful. That became a symbol for the community, for the kids, and for what this foundation aims to do.”
Campaign Name: The Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix
Agency Name: Accenture Song South Africa / Accenture Song Content CGI Studio, Hamburg / Production: Giant Films / Director: WARD (Paul Ward)
Brand Name: Philipstown WireCar Foundation
Location: Philipstown, Karoo region, South Africa; global distribution via Prime Video, mobile app stores, and e-commerce
