Joe Freshgoods' new commercial for 'Outside Clothes' features Chicago's West Side
CHICAGO - The music, the people, everything: Joe Freshgoods' commercial for his new collaboration with New Balance shows off Chicago's West Side.
"I exist because of everything I did growing up. Going to the candy store. Playing tag. Water balloon fights. Going to your cousin's house. I wanted to embody a whole commercial that sounds and feels like ‘summertime Chicago,'" Freshgoods said in an interview on Tuesday.
The commercial features Black people hanging out on the West Side, playing jump rope and dominos, spending time on the porch with family, enjoying sno-cones in the summer. This is Freshgoods' second collaboration with New Balance.
"I think for me, Chicago isn't a rich New Balance city. We're like Jordan and Nike," he said. "I wanted to tell that authentic Chicago story from the West Side of Chicago. Pretty dope to spotlight my neighborhood."
Freshgoods said his goal was to show the beauty and richness of the families and people who live in Chicago.
"We need to spotlight positive Black men and Black women," Freshgoods said. "The reaction is just beautiful. My phone won't stop ringing. We are – my people – we spend so much money on a lot of this stuff and we make things cool. So, it's like: ‘Let me spotlight my people.’"
Freshgoods said that Outside Clothes will be released in Chicago on Thursday.