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Smokey And The Bandit and Coors beer
Posted: June 4, 2003, 1:09 am
by Jezdziec Znikad
Ok. So I'm watching "Smokey And The Bandit". I haven't seen the movie since I was a little kid. So, I'm really watching for the first time (because I can understand all the little jokes). I finally realized why Smokey was running from the cops. The Bandit (Burt Reynolds), makes an $80,000 bet that he and Iceman (the trucker) can transport a shipment of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas to Atlanta within 28 hours.
I didn't even know Coors was illegal in the 70's. (But then again I was born in 1977).
So I got curious and checked the net so I could find out why Coors was illegal. I came up with this site:
http://www.corporations.org/coors/
My question is: The website makes a lot of accusations. Does all this really go on? Or, is it all hippie hoopla?
Posted: June 4, 2003, 7:51 am
by kyoukan
The point was, Texarkana to Atlanta in 28 hours is pretty fucking fast. And they run state lines without paying taxes and transport fees. The idea behind the movie is the truckers move shit around at like 100 mph.
Coors probably paid for half the movie.
Posted: June 4, 2003, 8:50 am
by Kilmoll the Sexy
Coors was not illegal. It was the bootlegging that was illegal.
Posted: June 4, 2003, 8:53 am
by Lexien
What's bootlegging?
I know the word but it's meaning somehow eludes me.
Posted: June 4, 2003, 9:45 am
by Xouqoa
Texarkana to Atlanta is only 664 miles. No reason they shouldn't be able to make that in 28 hours. Even going 45mph it would only take 14 hours. I don't get it.

Posted: June 4, 2003, 10:01 am
by Xyphir
Xouqoa wrote:Texarkana to Atlanta is only 664 miles. No reason they shouldn't be able to make that in 28 hours. Even going 45mph it would only take 14 hours. I don't get it.

They had to make it to Texarkana and BACK in 28 hours. They focus almost the entire time on making it back to Atlanta because that's when they run into Jackie Gleason's and Sally Field's characters. That used to be one of my favorite movies as a kid. My favorite line has to be...
"When we get home, I'm gonna punch yo momma right in the mouf."
By the way, the truckers name is Snowman, not Iceman.
Posted: June 4, 2003, 10:03 am
by Fairweather Pure
Cannonball Run > Smokey and the Bandit
Posted: June 4, 2003, 10:06 am
by Vaemas
Main Entry: bootleg
Date: 1900
transitive senses
1 a : to carry (alcoholic liquor) on one's person illegally b : to manufacture, sell, or transport for sale (alcoholic liquor) illegally
2 a : to produce, reproduce, or distribute illicitly or without authorization b : SMUGGLE
intransitive senses
1 : to engage in bootlegging
2 : to run a bootleg play in football
- boot·leg·ger noun
Basically transport liquor to avoid taxes/duties/fees, etc. Or back during the prohibition, do anything with alcohol.
Posted: June 4, 2003, 10:18 am
by Pherr the Dorf
Kilmoll the Sexy wrote:Coors was not illegal. It was the bootlegging that was illegal.
The coors itself was not illegal. But back then Coors beer was not sold on the east coast and to move any quantity of it across state lines is, as you said, bootlegging. One can of coors on the east coast back then, an oddity, a truckload, illegal. And to add, it was part of a marketing plan to open the east coast up to coors, it became available 8 months after the movie was released. One last thing, back then Coors tasted like a real lager, until it finally truely went national.
Posted: June 4, 2003, 10:23 am
by Deward
I could be wrong but I was told that there was a law once that restricted the sales of beer based on where it was brewed. i.e. beer brewed west of the mississippi river could only be sold west of the river and vice versa. Anyone else ever heard this rule?
Deward
Posted: June 4, 2003, 10:41 am
by Aslanna
Xyphir wrote:Xouqoa wrote:Texarkana to Atlanta is only 664 miles. No reason they shouldn't be able to make that in 28 hours. Even going 45mph it would only take 14 hours. I don't get it.

They had to make it to Texarkana and BACK in 28 hours. They focus almost the entire time on making it back to Atlanta because that's when they run into Jackie Gleason's and Sally Field's characters.
Ok, well if going one way at 45MPH only takes 14 hours then they could still finish in 28 hours! 1400 miles in 28 hours? That's easy unless you stop and engage in shenanigans.
Posted: June 8, 2003, 7:07 am
by Maaurius
I could be wrong but I was told that there was a law once that restricted the sales of beer based on where it was brewed. i.e. beer brewed west of the mississippi river could only be sold west of the river and vice versa. Anyone else ever heard this rule?
States set their own laws on alcohol content allowable in beer, so many states have their own brewery never heard of the whole west of the missippi thing though. It does really suck to stay for any length of time in Utah though, if you want to get a slight buzz you have to drink a 24 pack as their legal alcohol in regular beer is rediculously low.
Posted: June 9, 2003, 3:09 am
by Tenuvil
Up until around 1980 you could not buy Coors beer east of the Mississippi. I don't think it was a legal issue, just that the brewery decided that transport from Colorado to the East Coast would take too long and compromise the quality of the beer.
And before it went national it was the best beer evar.
Posted: June 9, 2003, 6:22 pm
by Metanis
Best beer evar?
Nope... this is..

Posted: June 9, 2003, 6:32 pm
by Xouqoa
If the word "light" or "pale" is in the name of the beer, it can't possibly be the best ever.
Posted: June 9, 2003, 6:47 pm
by Trek
Xouqoa wrote:If the word "light" or "pale" is in the name of the beer, it can't possibly be the best ever.
Its sad that this even needed to be posted.
Posted: June 9, 2003, 9:00 pm
by Metanis
Xouqoa wrote:If the word "light" or "pale" is in the name of the beer, it can't possibly be the best ever.
Ummmmm, I think a taste test is in order.
San Miguel as brewed in the PI for domestic consumption is the best beer I've ever had. And I've had plenty!

Posted: June 9, 2003, 11:51 pm
by Jezdziec Znikad
I'll agree about San Miguel. When I went back home to the Phillipines for a couple of months, that's all I drank.