Did a janitor really invent Flamin' Hot Cheetos?

Richard Montañez, the self-proclaimed inventor of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, is the subject of a new movie directed by Eva Longoria. Whether or not the origin story is a legend, what matters most is how this fiery snack has been embraced, repurposed, and re-interpreted by legions of fans.

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Richard Montañez, the self-proclaimed inventor of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, has a memoir out this week called Flamin' Hot: The Incredible True Story of One Man's Rise from Janitor to Top Executive. It's also being made into a movie by actress and producer Eva Longoria.

But last month, the Los Angeles Times published allegations that Montañez fabricated his role in the snack's creation.

"None of our records show that Richard was involved in any capacity in the Flamin' Hot test market," Frito-Lay said in a statement. "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."

Whether or not the Flamin' Hot Cheetos origin story is a legend, what matters most is how this fiery snack has been embraced, repurposed, and re-interpreted by legions of fans.

These puffy and pungent snacks have been featured in rap songs, YouTube challenges, TikTok cooking videos, clothing, jewelry, and a variety of food dishes with roots all over the world. Singer Katy Perry dressed up as a Flamin' Hot Cheeto for Halloween in 2014. 

This fan culture helped make Flamin' Hot Cheetos resilient to attacks by food regulators who object to artificial dyes and high-calorie cornmeal.

They're also a culinary phenomenon. "Either before school or after school you were going to get a bag of chips and the only one you were going to get was Flamin' Hot," says Tirsa Farah, co-owner and chef at Tirsa's Mexican Cafe in Los Angeles, California. Farah's menu features Flamin' Hot Cheetos in sopes, nachos, and esquites. "It's not just a flavor—it's a memory, it's an occasion. You just flash back to all the times you ate Flamin' Hot."

Bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos appeared on American store shelves in the early '90s. They came to symbolize the poor eating habits of America's youth. The panic intensified with the rise of social media. There were claims that kids were showing up at doctors' offices with heartburn and red stool.

YouTube creators like @MegatoadStonie mocked the calorie intake concerns of school administrators and dietitians—perhaps unintentionally—with Flamin' Hot Cheetos challenges where contestants try to eat as many as they can in 10 minutes.

Mexicana YouTube creator Wendy, from the @WendysEatingShow channel, made a video in 2018 where she added Flamin' Hot Cheetos to her sushi and took part in a Korean YouTube trend called #Mukbang: videos where someone eats food and talks to the audience about it.

"You guys want to know why I picked these sushi rolls? Because they have cream cheese in the middle and Hot Cheetos and cream cheese also go together like peanut butter and jam," Wendy explains.

The way fans are able to engage with and fuse cultures together make Flamin' Hot Cheetos deeply American. Those flavors combine into something new, surprising, and better practically every single day.

"You can be as different as you want to be, or non-traditional as you want to be, and still make delicious, yummy food," says Farah. "It's just the different chip."

Produced by Paul Detrick. Shot by Zach Weissmueller and Detrick. Graphics by Detrick.

Music: Turn Up by Monako, TipToes by Myuu, Shibuya by Bad Snacks, The Beacon by Zachariah Hickman, Fundy by Rew.

[smareng]

Twist: Flaming Hot Cheetos was population control all along

[justanorange]

Reason: here's a several hour debate about the tenets of libertarian philosophy.
Also Reason: FlAmInG hOt ChEeToS

[JoeHusosky]

When I was a kid about 20 years before flaming hot Cheetos in the '70s, the Hot thing was Andy capp's hot fries, they were a combination snack made of corn and potato and were just as flaming hot without the orange and red dye.

[heteroerectus]

LP is literally imploding and Reason is on the case of the Hot Cheetos

[TheStephenation]

How is it that this is the first time in my life I can ever recall seeing or hearing about this apparent cultural touchstone? Flamin' Hot Cheetos have been around for 29 years, apparently. Weird.

[Wearyman]

My son loves these. They are vile. I don't get why people like them.

[truthisfalsemusic]

Me: wtf is this
Video: custodian becomes millionaire with just one idea
Me: ooohhh free market and capitalism digging people out of poverty
Video: but he’s a fraud
Me: ....so wtf is this?

[sarysa]

I guess the moral here is "freaking out about cultural appropriation is bad I guess", I guess?
Eeh this video seems so off-brand for Reason. The notion of cultural appropriation is pretty twisted (and one of the low points of the modern social justice movement) but it just comes off as an unintentional advertisement.

[puddingninja]

Everyone talks about flaming hot Cheetos but not icy cold Cheetos

[adityaparam]

I thought I was hallucinating when I saw this in the middle of the night.

[nanochase]

What is this garbage BuzzFeed article doing on here? Can we talk about how extensive government subsidies on corn have flooded the American diet with garbage. Yes, uncle Sam is paying for Cheetos and most of Fritos Lay's food stock.

[oldsoul]

This feels out of place being on ReasonTV. Like UFO documentaries on The History Channel.

[Muonium]

Reason comin' with that HARD-hitting journalism! Tomorrow: "does this dog love vanilla or strawberry ice cream more?!? tune in to find out!"

[thisguy]

Imagine making a 6 minute long paid advertisement, and posting it as journalism. This is something VICE would do, disgusting.

[takerdust]

Libertarian's fantasy: No Drivers licenses and property tax
Libertarian's reality: Corporate wokeness and 800 calorie hot Cheetos

[pavelow]

Good, next do "How Sriracha Became a Cultural Sensation"

[Deezle_Gaming]

The red stool thing is absolutely true, you won't make that mistake twice.

[ragnarok]

I firmly believe she discovered cheetos very young just by looking at her.

[Galt]

WTH? Is this a Frito Lay sponsored video? They aren’t very good and not even that hot.

[leviparenteau]

Yup. Looks like they ate way too much cheetos.