Flamin Hot Cheetos - The Movie (1 Viewer)

[rail]

Go ahead and give it all the awards. I'm in.

 

[gboudx]

It does burn good. In my mouth.
In my stomach, no bueno.

 

[rail]

It does burn good. In my mouth.
In my stomach, no bueno.

On the way out, ay yi yi.

 

[buzd]

Go ahead and give it all the awards. I'm in.

I listened to a podcast about that, and there is a certain amount of mythology about it that points to it not really being true.

It's a good story though.

 

[rail]

I listened to a podcast about that, and there is a certain amount of mythology about it that points to it not really being true.

It's a good story though.

Shut your dirty mouth.

It's real to me, dammit!

 

[Sun Wukong]

The deal to make this movie was signed before it was basically revealed that Richard Montañez made the whole thing up. Frito Lay even did an internal investigation after the actual creator of the product filed a complaint due to Montañez always taking credit for creating it and determined that he had no meaningful involvement.

 

[rail]

The deal to make this movie was signed before it was basically revealed that Richard Montañez made the whole thing up. Frito Lay even did an internal investigation after the actual creator of the product filed a complaint due to Montañez always taking credit for creating it and determined that he had no meaningful involvement.

 

[Sun Wukong]

If it helps, he does actually have a pretty inspiring story of climbing the ranks from janitor to marketing executive. That part is true. He just had fork all to do with the creation of Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

 

[Optimus Prime]

For the last decade, Richard Montañez has been telling the story of how he invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. The world has been eating it up.

It goes like this: He was working as a janitor at Frito-Lay’s Rancho Cucamonga plant when he dreamed up a chile-covered Cheeto and believed in himself enough to call up the chief executive to pitch his spicy idea.

Corporate backstabbers tried to sabotage Montañez for stepping out of line, but he out-hustled them, driven by a hunger to succeed. Flamin’ Hots became a runaway hit, and Montañez rose through the ranks and became an icon.

Watching his many recorded speaking engagements, it’s easy to see why his story has taken off.

Montañez is a charismatic speaker, and his tale of a Mexican American underdog whose ingenuity conquered the corporate world is a rags-to-riches fable baked into the origin of a wildly popular snack.......

There’s just one problem: Montañez didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, according to interviews with more than a dozen former Frito-Lay employees, the archival record and Frito-Lay itself.

“None of our records show that Richard was involved in any capacity in the Flamin’ Hot test market,” Frito-Lay wrote in a statement to The Times, in response to questions about an internal investigation whose existence has not been previously disclosed.

“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,” the statement continued, “but the facts do not support the urban legend.”

Flamin’ Hots were created by a team of hotshot snack food professionals starting in 1989, in the corporate offices of Frito-Lay’s headquarters in Plano, Texas. The new product was designed to compete with spicy snacks sold in the inner-city mini-marts of the Midwest. A junior employee with a freshly minted MBA named Lynne Greenfeld got the assignment to develop the brand — she came up with the Flamin’ Hot name and shepherded the line into existence.

Montañez did live out a less Hollywood version of his story, ascending from a plant worker to a director focused on marketing. He also pitched new product initiatives, which may have changed the path of his career.

But Montañez began taking public credit for inventing Flamin’ Hots in the late 2000s, nearly two decades after they were invented. First, he talked about it in speeches at local business and philanthropy award ceremonies. Then the online media, hungry for a feel-good story, took his claims viral.

And nobody at Frito-Lay stopped him. Most of the original Flamin’ Hot team had retired by the 2000s, but the few who remained let the story spread unchecked.

Greenfeld contacted Frito-Lay in 2018 after first seeing that Montañez was taking credit for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, triggering a company investigation. That process unearthed evidence calling his account into question and led the company to the conclusion it shared with The Times: “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.”............

The core of Montañez’s story rested on the pitch meeting that he says changed his life, where he sold his idea of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos directly to the Frito-Lay elite. In his new memoir, he lays out a dramatic scene, with more than 100 people, most of them “leading executives,” assembled alongside the CEO in a conference room at the Rancho Cucamonga complex to witness his presentation.

The Times spoke with 20 people who worked at the Frito-Lay divisions responsible for new product development 32 years ago, when Flamin’ Hot Cheetos were first extruded into existence. None recalls anything like the episode Montañez describes taking place.

“If that story existed, believe me, we would have heard about it,” said Ken Lukaska, who worked as a product manager for the core Cheetos brand when Flamin’ Hots were rolling out nationally. “This guy should run for office if he’s that good at fooling everyone.”............

The man who didn't invent Flamin' Hot Cheetos

Richard Montañez has for years told a story of how he dreamed up Flamin’ Hot Cheetos while working as a Frito-Lay janitor. The archival record, former employees and Frito-Lay itself say otherwise.

www.latimes.com

 

[buzd]

Here is the podcast episode about it (and a recommended podcast, generally. His mission impastable short series is really interesting)

The Sporkful

It’s not for foodies. It’s for eaters.

www.sporkful.com

 

[Complex Kid]

I listened to a podcast about that, and there is a certain amount of mythology about it that points to it not really being true.

It's a good story though.

 

[buzd]

Listen to the podcast. It's a great story.

 

[antipop]

Here is the podcast episode about it (and a recommended podcast, generally. His mission impastable short series is really interesting)

The Sporkful

It’s not for foodies. It’s for eaters.

www.sporkful.com

that sounds exactly like a podcast you would listen to

 

[buzd]

that sounds exactly like a podcast you would listen to

Yeah, I was waiting for that, but I figured no one would be surprised.

 

[rail]

First the Fat Boys break up and now this. There's just nothin to believe in any more, man.