OMAIGA, a biopic about how Flamin’ Hot Cheetos came to be is in the works. I am so here for it! Also, slap me hard across the face with a chancla because how did I not know that the multicultural snacking phenomenon that is Flamin’ Hot Cheetos was created by Richard Montañez, a Mexican immigrant and former migrant farmworker, when he was working as a janitor at the Frito-Lay plant in Cucamonga, California?
Variety reports that Fox Searchlight and Devon Franklin will produce “Flamin’ Hot,” the story of how Montañez went from being a janitor for Frito-Lay to becoming the “Godfather of Multicultural Marketing” by creating what is now their top-selling snack.
He got the idea to spice up Cheetos while watching a vendor prepare a cup of esquites. “I see the corn man adding butter, cheese and chile to the corn and thought what if I add chile to a Cheeto?” he recalls.
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He had an idea, but now what?
Encouraged by friends and family who loved his creation, Montañez asked for a meeting with the president of the company. With two weeks to prepare a presentation, he went to the library for a book about marketing strategy and got creative. “I’m a little bit of an artist so I even designed the bags and put the Cheetos in it,” says Montañez.
Well, you already know that the product is a HUGE success, so it’s not like I’m spoiling the ending by telling you that the snack and Montañez have done very well for themselves. Montañez went on to lead Multicultural Sales & Community Promotions for Pepsico’s North American divisions. DAYUM! Inspiration, much?
What I find so inspiring about this man’s story is that sooner or later someone, probably someone Mexican, was going to come up with the same idea, but Montañez not only came up with the idea, he successfully pitched the idea to executives even though his English wasn’t great, he didn’t have a high school diploma and he had to go to the library to copy a marketing strategy out of a book.
Regardless of whether you are a fan of the snack, you have to admire this man’s gumption, tenacity and friggin’ GANAS! His Twitter bio reads: “God Father of Hispanic Branding. Best Selling Author. Philanthropist. Motivational Speaker. Lover of Life!”
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