Richard Montañez understands marketing better than most people.
The Mexican immigrant turned Frito-Lay executive also knows our hunger for rags-to-riches stories.
Montañez claimed he invented the infamous Flamin’ Hot Cheeto that revolutionized the snacking industry. Now, Hulu and Disney+ are sharing the screen adaptation of that narrative, dubbed appropriately enough “Flamin’ Hot.”
There’s just one problem. It appears Montañez made the crucial part of the story up from whole cloth.
The Los Angeles Times did a thorough investigation into who created the Flamin’ Hot chip, and it determined it wasn’t Montañez.
The article’s blunt headline on the matter speaks volumes.
The man who didn’t invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
The details are even more damning.
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.
Frito-Lay, which would love to support his story for marketing purposes, categorically denied his involvement with a diplomatic caveat.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t celebrate Richard,” the statement continued, “but the facts do not support the urban legend.”
It’s Fake News, the movie, yet it snagged the attention of a political team that has turned lying into an art form.
The Biden White House.
The Bidens will host a screening of “Flamin’ Hot” on the White House’s South Lawn. They’ll watch the movie alongside the film’s cast and crew, including director and progressive activist Eva Longoria and “Latino community leaders.”
The branding is impeccable given President Biden’s ability to lie about virtually everything, from the state of the economy to his biography.
Biden once again claims that he was “involved in the civil rights movement” and that he’d “go down to the black church and plan what we’re gonna do in terms of desegregation.”
Literally none of that is true. All complete debunked lies.
pic.twitter.com/nVQfMhkRoI— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 28, 2023
The lies extend to his immediate family.
Biden says son Beau ‘lost his life in Iraq’ during Colorado speech | Fox News (Article posted by Twitter Top Articles) https://t.co/hCgvLupxo9
— Jo Reitkopp
(@JoTrumpCA) October 13, 2022
“Flamin’ Hot” is not without merit.
The film extols hard work, family and perseverance, and it shows how rejecting the victimhood narrative can lead to success. Those principles matter, even if the core story in play is in serious doubt.
The Deadline report ignored how the Montañez narrative has been debunked, knowing it would cast the Biden White House in a negative light. This reporter added a note to the Deadline story suggesting the site read the LA Times investigation and update the article.
The site’s administrator apparently deleted the comment.
People magazine also ignored the truth behind the film. The liberal outlet, usually meticulous with fact-checking, chose to massage that inconvenient truth by saying Montanez “claimed” to have invented the signature chip. People left out its own reportage.
The Hill, to its credit, brought up the LA Times expose while covering the White House screening.
The post Biden White House to Screen Disney’s Fake News Film ‘Flamin’ Hot’ first appeared on Hollywood in Toto.
The post Biden White House to Screen Disney’s Fake News Film ‘Flamin’ Hot’ appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.