Is ‘Flamin’ Hot’ a True Story? Well … Let Us Explain.

It is nearly definitely a incontrovertible fact that Richard Montañez didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

That revelation, which got here to gentle as a part of a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation, arrived at a fairly inconvenient time, contemplating a biopic based mostly on Montañez’s inspirational 2013 memoir, “A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive,” wherein he claims to have invented the spicy snack, was already in growth.

But the Times article wasn’t a demise knell for the movie — in truth, removed from it.

“We never set out to tell the history of the Cheeto,” Eva Longoria, who’s making her function directorial debut with “Flamin’ Hot,” advised The Los Angeles Times in March, shortly earlier than the movie’s premiere at South by Southwest. “We are telling Richard Montañez’s story and we’re telling his truth.”

So, the filmmakers cast forward, and “Flamin’ Hot,” which payments itself as a “true story,” will start streaming on Disney+ and Hulu on Friday. The movie follows Montañez (Jesse Garcia) by way of his early days as a janitor at a Frito-Lay plant in California, the place he finally makes a pivotal telephone name to Roger Enrico (Tony Shalhoub), the chief government of the Frito-Lay father or mother firm PepsiCo, to pitch an concept for a tasty corn puff. That units him on a path to turning into a multicultural advertising government at PepsiCo.

Here’s a information to how the spicy Cheeto story unraveled, what components of it are really true (there are some!) and what the actual Montañez has stated in regards to the controversy.

Who is Richard Montañez?

Montañez started his profession at Frito-Lay in 1976, when he was employed as a janitor on the firm’s plant in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. He rose by way of the ranks, finally turning into a advertising government.

For round 15 years, he has claimed that he got here up with the concept for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos within the early Nineteen Nineties after observing that Frito-Lay didn’t have any merchandise geared towards Latinos.

Did he invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos?

The Los Angeles Times investigation concluded that he didn’t, based mostly on interviews with greater than a dozen former Frito-Lay staff, firm information and a few obvious inconsistencies — nay, impossibilities — in his story.

For one, Montañez, who’s now in his 60s, usually recounts the story of how he cold-called the PepsiCo chief government to pitch his concept after watching a motivational video Enrico had recorded as a part of a marketing campaign encouraging Frito-Lay staff to “act like owners.”

There was only one downside, The Times discovered: Enrico didn’t take over on the firm till early 1991 — virtually six months after Flamin’ Hot merchandise have been already obtainable in a take a look at market.

So that’s a no, proper?

Well, Montañez did invent one thing at Frito-Lay; it simply wasn’t Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. According to a 1993 U.S. News & World Report article, Montañez pitched Flamin’ Hot Popcorn, which debuted in March 1994 as an extension of the Flamin’ Hot line.

Roberto Siewczynski, who in 1994 labored as an out of doors advisor on the take a look at marketplace for a brand new product line aimed toward Latinos in Los Angeles — Sabrositas — additionally advised The Times that Montañez was closely concerned of their growth.

What has Frito-Lay stated?

After a former worker, Lynne Greenfeld, contacted the corporate in 2018 to dispute Montañez’s declare, Frito-Lay performed an inside investigation, which discovered no proof that Montañez performed a job in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Though, the corporate famous, the a part of his story about him rising from a janitor to a advertising director was correct.

A spokesperson for PepsiCo did pay tribute to Montañez’s contributions in a second assertion — which didn’t problem any of the information of The Times’s investigation — saying that “his insights and ideas on how to better serve Hispanic consumers were invaluable and directly resulted in the success of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.”

Who did invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos?

The firm advised The Los Angeles Times that its information indicated that the snack was developed by a bunch of scientists and advertising executives starting in 1989 at Frito-Lay’s headquarters in Plano, Texas. Greenfeld, then a junior worker, was tasked with creating the model and, Frito-Lay stated, got here up with the Flamin’ Hot title.

What has Montañez stated?

He’s sticking to his model of the story.

One of his arguments is that as a result of he labored such a low-level job, there was an absence of documentation of his efforts. As for the inconsistencies within the timeline, he advised Variety in 2021 that he was not conscious of what might need been happening in different components of the corporate.

“I’m not even going to try to dispute that lady, because I don’t know,” he advised Variety, talking of Greenfeld. “All I can tell you is what I did.”

Does the movie acknowledge the controversy?

No. An epilogue characterizes the movie as a “true story,” with out mentioning the Los Angeles Times investigation or Frito-Lay’s warnings to filmmakers in 2019 that it was unable to confirm Montañez’s involvement in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

The movie does point out {that a} group of Frito-Lay executives was concurrently engaged on a spicy chip at a plant within the Midwest, although it doesn’t pursue this plotline.

What Else Does the Film Get Right or Wrong?

Did Montañez deal medication earlier than becoming a member of Frito-Lay?

Yes. In his 2013 memoir, he chronicles his life as a gang member in East Los Angeles when he was younger.

Did Montañez lie on his Frito-Lay utility about having a highschool diploma?

A voice-over within the movie describes him as uneducated, and a tense scene reveals him agonizing over the appliance. It’s unclear whether or not Montañez, who dropped out of highschool in some unspecified time in the future earlier than his sophomore 12 months, fudged a credential he didn’t have or simply persuaded Frito-Lay to rent him with out one.

Was Clarence Baker, the plant engineer whom Montañez befriends within the movie, based mostly on an actual particular person?

Yes, in response to a spokeswoman for Searchlight Pictures, the movie’s distributor. The character performed by Dennis Haysbert was impressed by an worker on the plant the place Montañez labored. The engineer died a number of years in the past, and his title was modified for the movie.

Was Frito-Lay proof against selling Montañez?

While the corporate’s opposition to his development is central to the plot of “Flamin’ Hot,” in actual life, Montañez was promoted to a machinist operator inside his first 12 months, in response to Frito-Lay information.

Was Frito-Lay going to tug Flamin’ Hot Cheetos from cabinets earlier than a grass-roots advertising marketing campaign spearheaded by Montañez?

No. In Montañez’s most up-to-date memoir, “Flamin’ Hot: The Incredible True Story of One Man’s Rise From Janitor to Top Executive,” he recounts enlisting native ladies to carry Tupperware events to assist drum up curiosity in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, which, he writes, initially struggled to achieve traction in a Southern California take a look at market. According to what Siewczynski, the advisor, advised The Los Angeles Times, that account is correct — in the event you’re speaking about Montañez’s involvement with Sabrositas, not Cheetos.