- Dario Brooks
- BBC News World
2 hours
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Subtitle,
The film Flamin’ Hot was released on June 9th.
Richard Montañez’s story has inspired many across the United States, including Hollywood.
It’s not usual for a man to start clean floors achieve a position in a factory highexecutive at a company like Frito-Lay, the US transnational chip and snack giant.
But that’s exactly what Montañez, a son of Mexican immigrants who grew up in California, experienced.
The pivotal point of his incredible rise, as Montañez has related in books, interviews and motivational speeches, was the invention of the spicy version ofthe aperitif cheetos, Financial supportFlamin’ Hot.
A Latino flavor, more specifically a Mexican flavor that has conquered the tastes not only of this community but also of others in the United States and in foreign markets where the product arrives.
However, several investigations concluded that the story of Montañez It’s not exactly the way he circulated itspecifically how the Flamin’ Hot flavor was invented.
PepsiCo, Frito-Lay’s parent company, had to point out that the janitor at a Los Angeles factory isn’t necessarily the inventor of this product, but he is. someone who contributed be launch and success”.
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Subtitle,
Richard Montañez and his wife Judy claim they invented the spicy potato chips that later became Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Amidst the controversy that arose in 2021 is the actress and producer Eva Longoria chose Montañez’s story to shoot Flamin’ Hother first directing job in Hollywood.
Longoria, an American of Mexican descent like Montañez, affirms that it is “a story that celebrates the American entrepreneurial dream without neglecting the fact.” This dream is not equally available to everyone“.
“I wanted to highlight his story, his life, and the importance and power of the Latino community within American culture,” Longoria said Thursday. in the white house before the President Joe Bidenwho hosted the screening of the film.
The film wasn’t immune to criticism, however, for showing an unrealistic portrayal of the invention of deep frying, which is the starting point of Montañez’s successful life story.
For more than two decades, Montañez has been telling the world how he made the American dream come true.
Like other migrants, he had to work from an early age to bring money home, and as he had no studies and could barely write in English, his options were very limited.
In the East Los Angeles area where he lived, he eventually fell for gang invitations to do dirty jobs for easy money, although he says he was so bad at it that he always got caught.
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Subtitle,
Jesse Garcia plays Richard Montañez while Annie González plays Judy in Flamin’ Hot.
At the age of 18, with the help of his then girlfriend Judy, he decided to apply for a job at the Frito-Lay factories on which he received a stable salary and Social Security.
“I remember filling out the application and passing it on to Human Resources and I was very nervous because there was no truth to the application. but cI got the job straight away“Montañez told public radio station NPR.
He got a job as a janitor, but after a year he got other opportunities, such as a machine operator at the Rancho Cucamonga fry factory in east Los Angeles or as a fruit and vegetable salesman.
He spent more than a decade at the bottom of the company.
Montañez was once arranging chips in a store in a neighborhood in Mexico when he said he had an idea that would change his life: “I saw people buying chilies. I saw people buying spices. And I looked at ours.” Flavorless Lay’s potatoes… So? that we don’t have anything for people who like it spicy?” she thought.
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Subtitle,
Longoria’s film is based on the stories by Montañez.
His wife made salsa and thought long and hard about adding it to Lay’s chips until she found a way to powder it the way Cheetos get their orange cheese flavor.
In 1989, he brought the Spicy Cheetos back to the factory, he told NPR. His companions were fascinated by the taste. He sent her to the bosses to show them there was a potential market for Latinos and other heat lovers like Asians, but got no response.
He explained it took a while for his idea to materialize with the support of processed food experts who couldn’t easily use homemade hot sauce powder. But as he tells In 1990 everything was already underway.
“I remember the excitement when I first saw the bags running up the conveyor at the facility. PI taught ‘Andor I did it’” he assured NPR.
Was that really so?
The idea of hot potatoes didn’t change Montañez’s life immediately and he remained the poorly paid janitor and machine operator.
As the product caught on, and after 20 years working for Frito Lay, Montañez was rewarded with a position with the company Vice President of Marketing for the latino community.
Over the past two decades, he has told his story in conferences, two books, and several interviews. It has been automobileHe has been named the “Ambassador” that has sparked interest in food for Latin American flavors in the United States.
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Subtitle,
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are one of Frito-Lay’s signature spicy strains.
But in 2021, the Los Angeles Times published extensive research proving this Montanez can’t be granted Credit for inventing the Flamin’ Hot flavor.
According to dozens of interviews with those involved in inventing the flavor, the product was It was developed in the Midwest and market tested before Montañez introduced it to California executives.
Lynne Greenfeld, one of the product’s market leaders, has voiced her disapproval of Montañez accepting credit from others since 2018.
In light of all of this, PepsiCo issued a statement in 2021 stating, “We lead the launch and success of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and other products.” to various people who worked at PepsiCo, including Richard Montañez“.
The company claimed that the departments at the time “acted independently and weren’t the best at communicating,” so they may have been working on similar ideas at the same time.
“His story and his career are incredible. Starting out as a janitor to becoming an executive at Frito Lay is a compelling story that no one can deny and that Frito Lay has endorsed,” said Gustavo Arellano, a journalist and author specializing in Mexican issues. American culture.
“But why does he have to insist to this day that he was the creator of the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos? Why did he say that for so many years,” asks the LA Times columnist.
In addition, Arellano points out that This “urban legend” has enabled Frito-Lay to “attract more Hispanics to buy their products.” It has made Frito-Lay a powerhouse for the Latino community.”
BBC Mundo requested an interview with Richard Montañez, but the speaker and author did not respond.
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Subtitle,
Eva Longoria and actor Jesse Garcia who plays Montañez.
Flamin’ Hot on screen
A Hollywood production ran in 2019 before the Los Angeles Times and other major US media reported on Richard Montañez’s story.
Eva Longoria formed a team to bring the inspiring story of the Latino community in the United States to the big screen.
“The story was well known, but the name of Richard Montañez was not so well known. It was like an urban legend,” explains Arellano.
The script was written by well-known author Linda Yvette Chávez, who is also the daughter of Mexican immigrants.
Chávez tells BBC Mundo how he’s tried to mirror the life of Richard Montañez beyond the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos patent controversy.
“It was difficult for me, but easy at the same time. Because I’m Richard, I lived his life with obstacles and dreams, I had them too, to get where I am as a Hollywood writer. It wasn’t easy and that’s why I understood his story,” Chávez says.
“Most of us are workers, we’re not in the 1% [de los más ricos], and we have dreams. And I recognized and saw that in his story,” he adds.
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Subtitle,
Linda Chávez defends that Flamin’ Hot is the story of Richard Montañez, beyond the controversy that has arisen.
After investigations into the origin of the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos arose, the production made some minor adjustments.
But they defend it The film is about a man’s life workers and Latino who overcame adversity.
“Often there are many sides to a story, many truths, and there are times when whoever has the most power can write the story and say it’s a species,” Chávez points out.
“From what I’ve experienced, I know what it’s like to be silenced, oppressed and controlled, and I wanted to help people understand how it feels. It’s the story of a man who came from nothing.” . this is your story Nobody can refute that, that was very clear and it was the way he went“, Add to.
Arellano agrees that no one can discredit the track record of Montañez, the janitor who worked his way up to the top executive of a major company in his lifetime. But keep in mind that based on a true story, this movie cannot ignore the facts.
“It’s well done, the actors did a good job. Eva Longoria was good when she first made a movie. But.” The premise of the film is wrong“, he claims.
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Subtitle,
Eva Longoria presented her film at the White House, where it was praised by President Joe Biden.
According to Chávez, since its premiere on June 9, the film has had a very good response, especially in the US Latino community, which does not always find a place for their stories in Hollywood.
“Today people are very inspired by Richard. We saw in the White House that people celebrated for him that you can reach the top.” And I think we need that at a time when we haven’t been treated [a los latinos] very good” says the author.
“It’s inspiring to see someone who has come through, who looks like you, who has been through things that you might have been through, who comes from a family of bad people and has reached high levels.”
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