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
Burt Reynolds to be Hamlet. I would just like to be the best Burt Reynolds around. James L. Brooks offered Reynolds the role of astronaut Garrett Breedlove in "Terms of Endearment" (1983) but he turned it down to do "Stroker Ace" (1983), another car chase comedy directed by Needham. The "Endearment" role went to Jack Nicholson, who went on to win an Academy Award. Reynolds said he made this decision because "I felt I owed Hal more than I owed Jim" but "Stroker Ace" flopped. Reynolds felt this was a turning point in his career from which he never recovered. "That's where