Smokey and the Bandit petroleum company Mobil 1 produced television commercials, featuring NASCAR star Tony Stewart, closely based on the film. Called "Smoke is the Bandit" playing on Stewart's nickname, the commercials featured him as the Bandit opposite Darrell Waltrip who played Snowman and Jeff Hammond as Buford T. Justice. The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. The adverts poked fun at the film and even featured a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song "East Bound and Down". The commercials were produced after Stewart mentioned that the movie was one of his favorites. When "Smokey and the
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (film) Perry admitted the novel was "female fantasizing. But what else was "Wuthering Heights"?" Poll set up the film at MGM where Dan Melnick was head of production. The movie was that studio's biggest budgeted film of the year. Melnick tried to get Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw to play the leads but was unsuccessful. Perry said the film "cried out for Hepburn and Bogart but we settled on Burt Reynolds." Burt Reynolds was signed in November 1972. Reynolds said he did the movie "because I loved the book. I'd never done a love story, either." The filmmakers wanted Jane Fonda