MEDIA RELEASE

America’s honesty has been put to the test! Using data gathered from experiments conducted in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., the National Honesty Index has found that overall, Americans were 92 percent honest with Alabama and Hawaii tying for most honest state.

“We’ve conducted our experiment in different cities over the past few years, but this is the first time we’ve conducted the experiment on a national scale”
Beverage company HONEST Tea, which strives to make its products with transparency and honesty, developed the experiment to see how honest people are when it seems no one is looking. The company set up unmanned kiosks stocked with its beverages and offered them for $1 on the honor system.

From July 8-18, 61 total locations throughout the country were tested, with data collected on how many people paid for the beverages. Additionally, data was collected on participants’ characteristics including gender, hair color, hair length, facial hair, and whether or not they were wearing hats and sunglasses.

Highlights include:

* Hawaii and Alabama were the only two states to earn 100%; Indiana and Maine each scored 99%

* Washington, D.C. was the least honest location in the experiment with 80% of participants paying for their beverage.

* Overall, women are more honest than men (95% vs. 91%)—the same percentages in both our 2012 and 2013 tests.

* Unlike last year where redheads were most honest, in 2013 blonds were the most honest (95%) and followed by brunettes (93%) and then redheads (92%).

* The longer your hair, the more honest you are. People with short hair were 91% honest, vs. people with medium and long hair (93% and 94% honest, respectively).

* People in groups (96% honest) tend to be more honest than people on their own (91% honest).

For full results, visit: http://thenationalhonestyindex.com

“We’ve conducted our experiment in different cities over the past few years, but this is the first time we’ve conducted the experiment on a national scale,” said Seth Goldman, co-founder and TeaEO of HONEST Tea. “Even though my bicycle was stolen the same day as our D.C. experiment, it’s reassuring to know that 92 percent of Americans will do the right thing even when it seems no one is watching.”

HONEST Tea seeks to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages and extend economic opportunities to communities in need. Founded in 1998 in Bethesda, MD, Honest Tea is the nation’s top-selling organic bottled tea company specializing in beverages that are just a tad sweet.

In addition to being ranked by The Huffington Post as one of the leading “8 Revolutionary Socially Responsible Companies,” HONEST Tea is a multi-year winner of awards from the Alliance for Workplace Excellence. HONEST Tea has won Men’s Health “Best Green Tea” for five years running and in 2012 was named one of Women’s Health magazine’s “125 Best Packaged Foods for Women.”

HONEST Tea is an independent operating unit of The Coca-Cola Company.

— Find out more:
www.honesttea.com