“The world is about to get a movie about Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and it’s not as cheesy as it sounds,” as Stern from the Daily Mail put it. Fox Searchlight will be producing a Flamin’ Hot film about the history of the spicy cheetos. The story is pretty wild, and has a truly inspiring ending.
The Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Story
It all started with a janitor, Richard Montañez, who came to America from Mexico as a child. One day, the production line accidentally made a batch of cheetos without cheese dust on them. He decided to take them home, not wanting them to go to waste. Coming from a Mexican background, with the infamous elote snack on his mind, he decided to add some chili spices to the plain cheetos. His family and friends thought it was a brilliant idea that needed to be pitched to the president of Frito-Lay. The president loved the idea and, in turn, asked Montañez to present to the company executives.
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos has now become the best-selling snack for Frito-Lay. Now Montañez is no longer a janitor, but the head of multicultural sales and community promotions across PepsiCo’s North American divisions. He has also generated ideas for Taco Bell and KFC.
‘Many times, greatness will come in ridiculous forms, a ridiculous idea might be a billion dollar idea,’ he said.
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