The recent Los Angeles Times investigation that reveals Richard Montañez didn’t actually invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos came at a rather inconvenient time, considering a biopic based on Montañez’s memoir, “A Boy, a Burrito, and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive,” in which he claims to have invented the spicy snack, was already in development. Despite this revelation, the filmmakers moved forward with the project, with “Flamin’ Hot” premiering at South by Southwest and set to stream on Disney+ and Hulu. Eva Longoria, who is making her feature directorial debut with the film, said that they will continue to tell Montañez’s story and truth.
The film follows Montañez’s early days as a janitor at Frito-Lay plant and how he eventually made a pivotal pitch to Roger Enrico, the chief executive of the Frito-Lay parent company PepsiCo, for a tasty corn puff, leading him to become a multicultural marketing executive at PepsiCo. While the Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that Montañez did not invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, he did invent something for Frito-Lay – Flamin’ Hot Popcorn. Montañez stuck to his version of the story, saying that because he worked such a low-level job, there was a lack of documentation of his efforts.
The film does not acknowledge the controversy, but it does cover Montañez’s life as a gang member in East Los Angeles and his promotion to a machinist operator within a year of working at Frito-Lay. The film’s distributor confirms that the character played by Dennis Haysbert was inspired by a real employee at the plant where Montañez worked, and it accurately portrays Montañez enlisting local women to hold Tupperware parties to help drum up interest in Flamin’ Hot Cheetos during its initial struggle to gain traction in a Southern California test market.
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