Friday, November 20, 2009

Time to Remake Smokey and the Bandit?

Anyone old enough to have seen Smokey and the Bandit may remember that the plot revolved around a bet/dare involving the illegal transport of a regional microbrew with a cult following across state lines from Texas to Georgia in time for a special event.

The beer in the movie was Coors, which became a nationally-available brand not too many years after Burt Reynolds first drove that TransAm. I thought that movie plot was a quaint relic of the past, in today's age of widely available craft beers.

It seems I was wrong. Some latter-day, real-life Bandit is running Spotted Cow to a bar in New York City that is known for Wisconsin alumni events.

Does that mean that, a decade from now, Spotted Cow Light will be the drink of choice of college kids across the nation?

5 comments:

Dan said...

Wow, things must be pretty slow if this is big news in NYC. Things must also be pretty slow if the liquior commission is concerned about 1200 bottles of beer.
Kind of explains why we don't have the cow beer here in Vegas, though.

Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC said...

It's never time o remake S&TB.

I do, however recall those heady days of living out west and being able to sample Coors and Oly for the first time. FWIW, I wondered what the big deal was.

Ordinary Jill said...

For a while, New Glarus Brewery distributed Spotted Cow in northern Illinois. However, they couldn't keep up with demand, so they decided to limit it to Wisconsin and grow their distribution network at a more sustainable pace. The operation has expanded significantly in the past couple years. Most Wisconsin bars seem to carry it now, and it's very popular.

Coors is a beer for people who don't like beer. It has a low alcohol content (because so many of those western states had 3.2 laws back when it was just a regional brew) and a mild flavor. For people who lack Wisconsin's German heritage, it's a popular choice.

Unknown said...

Funny funny movie. I don't mind remakes per se but if the wrong people get their hands on it.....i had heard the original writer of American Pie had a shot at writing and directing a remake which went to nowhere.

Ordinary Jill said...

A remake of Smokey and the Bandit, or a remake of American Pie?