If anything Frito-Lay, and anyone still working there have absolutely no incentive to do anything except go along with Montañez's story. It's fantastic PR.
The only person in this story who have any incentive to lie are the sales guy, and the MBA who are claiming that they pushed for and invented hot cheetos.
But their story is backed up by documented evidence that the product existed years before Montañez claims that he invented it, and Frito-Lay confirms their story.
What sounds better--"Janitor rises to Executive by inventing flaming hot cheetos", or "MBA creates new brand by copying existing competitors"? When the vast majority of the evidence supports the 2nd version, despite it being a less compelling story, I think it's pretty safe to go with that one.
The only person in this story who have any incentive to lie are the sales guy, and the MBA who are claiming that they pushed for and invented hot cheetos.
But their story is backed up by documented evidence that the product existed years before Montañez claims that he invented it, and Frito-Lay confirms their story.
What sounds better--"Janitor rises to Executive by inventing flaming hot cheetos", or "MBA creates new brand by copying existing competitors"? When the vast majority of the evidence supports the 2nd version, despite it being a less compelling story, I think it's pretty safe to go with that one.