Smokey and the Bandit Plot Question
 

Well, I'm watching this on AMC for the umpeenth time and I was wondering if anyone can help me understand the point of Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed's mission?

Why is shipping Coors across state lines bootlegging? Was it not available nation wide back in the 70s? Is it still considered bootlegging today?

Just curious

Coors beer wasn't avaialbe in the eastern states at that time. It was illegal to transport it east of Texas. Not sure why though.

Coors was not available nationwide in the 1970s.

I assume the shipping across state lines was bootlegging because it deprived those states from gaining the alcohol tax revenue that would normally be gained from alcohol sales in their state. While transporting a small amount for personal use would likely not be a crime, the large amounts in the movie wouldn't get the same consideration.

I believe bootlegging is still illegal in some states for the same reason.

They were doing it for $80,000 dollars and for the fun of it.

Don't over analyze it...all you need to know is...the boys are thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in Texarkana. :)

Didn't it have something to do with the alcohol content being higher than any other beer, thus violating a plethora of blue laws east of the Mississippi? Whatever...Sally Field was hot in it is all I remember.