Flamin’ Hot, which is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+, tells the true story of the Frito-Lay janitor who pitched the idea for the beloved spicy snack, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. But there’s just one problem: It might not actually be true.
Directed by Eva Longoria, with a screenplay by Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette, Flamin’ Hot stars Jesse Garcia as Richard Montañez, a former Frito-Lay executive who has been telling his inspirational story—that he was a janitor who pitched a billion-dollar idea to the Frito-Lay CEO— for years. It seemed only a matter of time before his story became a movie, and now it has, with an all-star cast that includes Annie Gonzalez, Dennis Haysbert, and Tony Shalhoub.
But two years ago, an LA Times story dropped that disputed Montañez’s claims. Is Flamin’ Hot based on a true story? The answer is complicated. Read on to find out more.
Is Flamin’ Hot based on a true story?
Yes. The Flamin’ Hot movie was adapted from Richard Montañez’s 2013 memoir, A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive, which purportedly detailed the true story of how Montañez pitched the idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while he was working as a janitor at Frito Lay, and, as a result, rose through the ranks of the company to become an executive.
Director Eva Longoria and writers Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chávez likely thought the movie they were making was based on fact, but then, in 2021—just weeks before the movie was set to go into production—a long-form investigative piece in the Los Angeles Times concluded that Montañez, despite his claims, did not invent the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos line.
How accurate is the Flamin’ Hot movie to the true story?
Although the Flamin’ Hot movie made an effort to try to match up Montañez’s version of his story with the one reported by the LA Times, anyone who reads the article will find themselves doubting the accuracy of the movie. LA Times journalist Sam Dean interviewed over a dozen former Frito-Lay employees, reviewed archival records, and even got a statement from the company itself. Almost all the evidence points to the conclusion that Montañez’s claims that he invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are false.
After an internal investigation into the matter, Frito-Lay released a statement to the Times saying as much, calling Montañez’s claims “an urban legend.” The statement read: “None of our records show that Richard was involved in any capacity in the Flamin’ Hot test market. We have interviewed multiple personnel who were involved in the test market, and all of them indicate that Richard was not involved in any capacity in the test market. That doesn’t mean we don’t celebrate Richard, but the facts do not support the urban legend. We value Richard’s many contributions to our company, especially his insights into Hispanic consumers, but we do not credit the creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or any Flamin’ Hot products to him.”
So what actually happened? According to Dean’s reporting, the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos line was invented by a team of Frito-Lay corporate employees in 1989 in the company’s headquarter’s in Plano, Texas. Lynne Greenfeld, a junior employee, was in charge of developing the brand, and says she coined the “Flamin’ Hot” name. Montañez began to claim credit for inventing the snack nearly two decades after its conception, in the late 2000s. When Greenfeld realized finally realized what Montañez was doing, she contacted Frito-Lay in 2018. The following company investigation—which revealed discrepancies in Montañez’s versions of events, vs. the timeline of when and how the snack was created—led to the official conclusion that he did not invent Flamin’ Hot Cheeots, nor any of the Flamin’ Hot products.
And yet, the entire premise of the Flamin’ Hot movie—right down to the title—revolves around the idea that Montañez did invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. In an interview with Decider, co-writer Linda Yvette Chávez said the script did go through additional rewrites as a result of the LA Times story, including a scene that alludes to Greenfeld’s team, which market-tested products in the Midwest. “We got new information, so, [it was like,] ‘Let’s go ahead and add that to the story as well,'” Chávez said.
The result is a cutaway scene in which Montañez, played by Jesse Garcia, tells the audience that “apparently” the Frito-Lay team in the Midwest was also working on a product. “I don’t know whats going down over there,” Montañez tells the audience in a voice-over. “All I knew was, our ingredients came from the ground, our roots.”
Beyond that, the movie doesn’t come with any sort of disclaimers or notes. In fact, the title cards at the end of the film double down on the premise, stating: “Richard’s genius launched an entire industry of spicy products. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos is a billion-dollar brand.” But what the title cards fail to mention is that those two statements, while both separately true, aren’t connected. The implication is that the “spicy products” launched by Montañez was the billion-dollar Flamin’ Hot brands. But it wasn’t.
Instead, according to the LA Times report, Montañez spearheaded a line of Frito products called “Sabrositas,” and led the charge marketing the products to the Latino consumers in the Los Angeles area. This was in 1994, five years after Flamin’ Hot Cheetos had hit the marketplace. Montañez’s line included the less-popular products: Flamin’ Hot Popcorn, Flamin’ Hot Fritos, and Lime and Chile Corn Chips. It seems Montañez took this true story of his impressive work on the Sabrositas line and applied it to the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos line.
If you watch Flamin’ Hot closely, you might notice that it takes care never to put too much focus on Cheetos themselves. Though you often see Cheetos on screen, the word is rarely uttered. You can probably thank the Searchlight legal team for that.
But the story that is true is that Montañez pulled himself and his family out of poverty by rising through the ranks of Frito-Lay. He did help the company realize the power of the Latino market. For writer Linda Yvette Chávez, that’s a story worth telling. “What I signed on for, was to tell Richard’s story—the story of him becoming this larger-than-life figure, which he did become, at PepsiCo,” she told Decider. “He rose through the ranks and contributed to Latino marketing. That was the story I signed up to tell.”
Did Richard Montañez really invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos?
It depends on who you listen to. Richard Montañez and his family say yes. So does one former Frito-Lay executive, Al Carey. But Frito-Lay the company, most former employees, and the reporting of LA Times reporter Sam Dean say no.
But hey, what a story, right?