Wiki-de-bunk of Movie Mythology: Episode XII “Smokey and The Bandit”

The summer of 1977 is commonly thought of as a turning point in American history. The New York City blackouts, Star Wars, Debbie Boone and a little redneck adventure film that would forever change the way we think about Burt Reynolds and the Pontiac Firebird.

For anyone not familiar with the Redneck Citizen Cane here you go
Stolen Premise from IMDB:

“Bandit and Cledus are two truck-driving southerners who accept a dare from big-shots Big and Little Enos to pick up a truckload of beer from Texas and return it to them within a specified amount of time. Picking it up is simple enough, but as they are leaving Texas, Bandit unwittingly picks up Carrie, a hitchhiking bride-to-be who just left her groom, Junior, at the altar. Junior, however, is the son of Sheriff Buford T. Justice. And when Buford and Junior discover what has happened, they go on a "high-speed pursuit" across the Southeast to catch the bandit.”

The one part of that synopsis that is left off, is a scene in the beginning of the film where anonymous trucker A is arrested for taking almost the same bet (albeit without the assistance from Cledus or the involvement of Little Enos) not because he was stealing women from the side of the road, but for moving the popular Mile High Brew, Coors across the Texas state line East.

As a young man growing into adulthood, I accepted this fact for many, many years. Territorial rights for brew? I wouldn’t want any East Coast beer polluting my favorite truck stop bar and grills. I believe this was the very premise that the founders of the America were working under when they divised the bill of rights and interstate commerce law.

And then something occurred to me while I was watching this recently…..there’s no f’n way this was the Law!!!

This is where the democracy of Wikipedia stepped in and delivered the following:

"For much of its history, Coors beer was a regional product of the American West. This made it a novelty on the east coast, and visitors returning from visits to the western states often made a point of bringing back a case. This iconic status was reflected in pop culture: in 1977 the movie Smokey and the Bandit centered around an "illegal" shipment of Coors from Texas to Georgia (in reality there was no law against transporting the beer across state lines). "


So we find out history is told from those who have something to gain, and for this moment in time it was to make an incredibly epic Redneck Road film. Bandit and Cledus ran into many an issue while hauling 400 cases of Coors to Georgia for Big Enos and his fetish slave, but being arrested for interstate hauling of the Mile High Beer was not actually one of them.
Rest easier friends the next time you sip the banquet beer knowing great patriots like the Bandit risked their life underneath the false impression of imprisonment for trying to tap the Rockies in the Peach State.