Honesty Test: The Truth Is in the Tea

How honest are you when no one is watching?

The results are in from a tea maker's honesty test, and it turns out, Los Angeles has some work to do.

Last Thursday, Honest Tea set up a display at The Grove offering shoppers a simple deal: Take a tea, leave a buck. Other pop-up kiosks were spotted at Runyon Canyon, Hollywood & Highland, the Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach.

The Honest Tea folks used hidden cameras to see how honest we are. 

Turns out, we're not that honest.

Only 75 percent of local tea takers paid for their beverages, said Allison Citino of Formula PR Inc.

According to the hardly scientific yet still embarrassing data, LA is the least honest city tested so far:

  • Boston: 93.3 percent
  • Washington, D.C.: 93 percent
  • San Francisco: 91 percent 
  • Atlanta: 89 percent
  • New York: 89 percent
  • Chicago: 78 percent
  • Los Angeles: 75 percent

According to LA Weekly, all proceeds from the experiment are going to City Year.

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