Get ready for a throwback.
I’ve seen the image below surface a couple times on forums, most often on bodybuilding focused sites, but it’s made its way back to many strength athlete’s Instagram feeds and Reddit. The image shows bodybuilding legend Frank Zane catching a “heavy” clean & jerk.
If you scroll down and read the comments, then you’ll notice there’s a little bit of confusion. Zane was a legend of aesthetics, but was he really active on the weightlifting stage?
If you haven’t seen the picture, then check it out below. That’s quite an impressive clean for a lifelong bodybuilding focused athlete. Not to mention, his face suggests he’s handling what looks like 160kg+ with ease. So where is the picture really from?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgR2gr3A_Lu/
Now, there’s no doubt that Zane was both strong and athletic, but unfortunately, from what we can tell, the weight used in this picture wasn’t all too real. The image is from a commercial that aired in the 80s with Zane being the star. It features him in a competition setting, making a clean & jerk, then cooling down with a nice refreshing…
Pabst Blue Ribbon, of course!
A match made in heaven? You know, like peanut butter and jelly, Pabst Blue Ribbon and weightlifting (said in a Clint Eastwood voice). The commercial is a minute long and it comes with a Rocky-esque feeling and is pretty satirical (watch the five guys pick up the barbell).
If you haven’t seen it, then I’d recommend investing the minute of your day to checking it out. It’s pretty great.
When we decided to write on this throwback commercial, the first thought that came to our mind was another viral clip from December 2016 that featured Aleksey Lovchev supposedly clean & jerking 270kg. This clip was from a promotional video for Boston’s failed 2024 Olympic bid, and the weight, it turned out, wasn’t real.
Obviously, we’re not promoting the consumption of alcoholic beverages, but the commercial above was a cool reminder that sometimes strength sports make it to mainstream media!
Feature image from @craig_swole1 Instagram page.
