Dec. 28--Honest Tea, an organic tea maker based in Bethesda, Md., says it is removing bottle caps with a Donald Trump quote on them, but not because of the Republican presidential candidate's political views or gaffes.
Questions about the quote surfaced on Twitter on Sunday, when an image of the bottle cap was tweeted by Paul Shapiro, who works for the Humane Society of the U.S. He tweeted: "Funny that the bottle of @HonestTea I just bought quotes @realDonaldTrump on the cap." The quote attributed to Trump is: "If you're going to think anyway, you might as well think big."
Honest Tea responded to the tweet, saying the quote was in the process of being removed.
In an interview with the Tribune, Honest Tea co-founder Seth Goldman said the company has been phasing out the use of quotes by living people over the last several years, in part due to legal concerns. Honest Tea was bought by Coca-Cola in 2011.
He said the bottle cap with the Trump quote had been slated for removal for months, along with many others.
"It's not about politics," he said.
sbomkamp@tribpub.com
