One of President Obama‘s favorite beverages is getting a new look.
Earlier this year Bethesda-based Honest Tea, which was started by a former Hill staffer, was bought up by Coca-Cola Co. According to the Washington Business Journal, this month those plastic tea bottles will get new labels in preparation for the company’s national debut. “Gaining national distribution is like getting a prime-time premiere, and we want to make sure we’re wearing our best outfit,” CEO Seth Goldman told WBJ. (As for political ties, Goldman served as the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen‘s deputy press secretary back in the day.)
Before being bought up by Coca-Cola, it was candidate Obama who helped put the beverages on the map. “During the campaign when Obama was traveling to all these different states, sometimes his campaign would call us in advance and say, ‘He’s going to Jackson, Miss. Where do we go and find Honest Tea?'” Goldman told U.S. News’ Washington Whispers column at the time. Obama professed his love for the company’s Black Forest tea and Honest Tea responded by renaming a few cases “Barack Forest Berry.”
