Honest Tea Wants To See How Honest MN Really Is

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Did you know redheads are more honest than blondes or brunettes?

And bearded men are more honest than balding ones -- those are just some of the findings from a social experiment done last year.

This year's test is wrapping up on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.

That's where the Honesty Tea company set out its products with a sign saying a bottle costs $1.

But there are no cashiers. It's all on the honor system.

How did Minnesotans do during Wednesday's experiment?

"Today, we're just stopping to see what people do when faced with the decision to pay or not to pay," Katelyn Jones said.

Jones is working undercover.

As she listens to street music, she watches to see if people are upholding the value they're putting in their hands.

"For the most part, people are pretty honest," Jones said.

But there were some naughty with that Minnesota nice.

"Today there was a little boy that came and stole one and left, and I thought that was the end of it, but then he decided to come back and steal two more -- he was really brave," Jones said.

In other states, there are some who apparently like to barter.

"In the past years, we've seen mayonnaise packets get put in the cash box as money, and then we've seen some people put air money in just to fake us out," Jones said.

Results will be out July 23 as this was the first time Minneapolis was in the mix.

Last year, Salt Lake City and Oakland were the most honest cities.

LA was dead last.

Full List of Honest Cities

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