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Nilton and Sumico Abel of Brazil look over bottles of tea at a self-service Honest Tea kiosk on the Las Vegas Strip Monday, Aug. 13, 2012. Observers from the tea company watched from a distance and recorded how many people paid for the tea and how many did not. The Honest Cities social experiment is being held in 50 locations in 30 cities.
By Conor Shine (contact) 
Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 | 2 a.m.
As Sinan Karatoy trudged northward on the Las Vegas Strip in the triple-degree desert heat Monday afternoon, he came across what must have seemed like an oasis: a small tent stocked with cold bottles of iced tea priced at $1 each.
There was no attendant at the booth, and only a small plastic box was set out to collect payment for the tea. With seemingly no one watching him, Karatoy was faced with the dilemma of whether he should pay for the drink or try to sneak off with one for free.
“I paid for it. It’s the honor system,” said Karatoy, who was visiting Las Vegas from Istanbul, Turkey.
The small tent set up near the Coca-Cola Store on the Strip was actually a social experiment sponsored by beverage makers Honest Tea.
Hidden out of sight, three Honest Tea employees monitored the tent for several hours Monday, tracking how many people paid for the tea when given the opportunity not to.
“You watch people, they look around to see what’s going on. They get that guilty conscious and they end up just paying for it,” said Ryan Vandegriendt, a marketing manager with Honest Tea.
Honest Tea’s honesty experiment is in its third year, and this year will survey 50 locations in 30 cities nationwide. Next Monday, the company will release the results from the surveys and rank the different cities based on how many people followed the honor system and paid for their drink.
Joe Stemmer, a marketing manager with Honest Tea, said the experiment is a fun way for the company to interact with its customers while also promoting its brand.
“We only use honest ingredients,” Stemmer said. Honest Tea uses organic, fair-trade certified ingredients in its teas, and focuses on sustainability in both its ingredients and its packaging, he said.
The early returns from Monday’s survey paint Las Vegas in a positive light, with 207 bottles purchased and only 11 taken without payment, for an honesty index of 95 percent, compared with the national average of 88 percent.
Actor Donn Harper, dressed as Elmo, cools down after buying some tea from a self-service Honest Tea kiosk on the Las Vegas Strip Monday, Aug. 13, 2012. Observers from the tea company watched from a distance and recorded how many people paid for the tea and how many did not. The Honest Cities social experiment is being held in 50 locations in 30 cities.
Vandegriendt speculated the day’s 106 degree temperatures and the relatively low amount being asked for a bottle of iced tea helped drive the high honesty rate.
“Especially around here, it’s going to cost $3 to get a drink anywhere else,” he said. “This location is not going to attract Las Vegas locals, but the Las Vegas crowd is people from everywhere. And where are they? On the Strip.”
Donn Harper spent much of his Monday observing people come and go from the Honest Tea booth from the anonymity of the Elmo costume he was wearing.
Harper, who was entertaining passers-by near the tent, helped himself to several bottles over the course of the day.
“I’m honest. I paid,” Harper said. “It’s a little warm out here, so the tea’s really been helping me get through the day.”
It's 100 plus degrees daily I'd gladly pay for a cold bottle of Iced Tea.
Of course it is still petty-theft if you don't pay -and people are going to think there's a camera somewhere...
Change the sign to "$1.00 donation recommended" and see how many pay
I'm surprised someone didn't grab 20 bottles, drop a Jackson in the kitty, then take them 1 block away and sell them for $3 a piece.
I used to stop at a honey stand in Needles that was on the honor system, someone cleaned him out once and then he set up cameras.
"Karatoy was faced with the dilemma of whether he should pay for the drink or try to sneak off with one for free."
SERIUOSLY karatoy....that was a "dilema" for you, coughing up a measly $1 for a product and service provided?
I'd hate to be your server...I can only imagine what kind of measly tip you would leave...or would that be a dilema too and maybe you just stiff the wait staff?
I'm impressed at the high number of people that paid. I would be curious to see the difference in the statistics if the booth were located in various Las Vegas neighborhoods.
It so nice to hear stories that shows the good in people. I would have paid for it or kept on walking.
so its a biz decision to pay or not. Strategic Not Paying for Juice.
Where's all the foreclosure 'victims'. I want to show them something....
Nice to see many paying up, as they should.
This "study" though shows mostly how our tourists act.
Would love to see them set this up in front of a Walmart/Kmart in town and I hope that the locals would be as honest as our tourists appear to be.
I think the people of Vegas are great and would love to have them show that to the world.
A dollar is a very reasonable price. I think if the tea was $2 or $3 theft would have been much greater.
Such "integrity" tests should randomly and routinely be testing public employees i.e. law enforcement, firefighters, educators, politicians etc. through independent organizations representing the public's interest while utilizing video/audio technologies.
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For $1, one can afford to be honest....
cwcommish...
Where's all the mortgage brokers & 'financial' folk...
"I want to show them something".
stopthebs...
You're misreading the story here.
You're taking the writer's words and attributing something to the Karatoys that just isn't there.
They sound like nice folk...TOURIST FOLK...no need to offend them for having done the right thing.
show em what? people paying for a service rendered? People deciding its not optional to pay for something they bought?
Im right here. Plenty of money to loan too.
Set that booth up anywhere along MLK. The only unknown is the over/under on how long it takes for the tea and the booth to be ripped to shreds and gone. I set it at 7 minutes.
While this tea experiment is only a marketing gimmick, it reminds me of a 2004 NY Times Magazine report by the authors of Freakanomics'. Called "What the Bagleman Saw," it examines data collected by a retired research analyst who started a business delivering bagels to corporate offices.
The bagels were displayed beside a wooden box with a slot where employees were entrusted to deposit payment. What the bagelman saw over 20 years was more than interesting. Among the fascinating behavior patterns he discerned was that the higher up an employee is in the corporate structure, the less likely he is to pay for his bagel. It appears that a sense of entitlement accompanies power.
Rank and file employees were most likely to pay.
If a Mexican tries to sell water he will get busted and go to jail for trying to make a honest living and be fined $1,000.00 and possiably be deported . Why didn't the police bust this operation ? Did the honest tea marketing managers pay state taxes on the profits ? Did they have a licence to do this experiment ? Looks like double standards they made $207.00 dollars for $57.00 worth of tea thats a $150.00 dollar profit not bad ....
How much did Donn Harper make wearing his Elmo costume ?
Lets see if I set up 10 tents with tea I could make $1,500.00 a day .... $10,500.00 a week $546,000.00 a year ....