Honest Tea distances itself from Donald Trump quote

The co-founder of the popular US beverage brand stood by its use of Mr Trump's words of inspiration

This photo of an Honest Tea cap set of a social media firestorm against the popular US beverage brand. (@Pshapire/Twitter)

Popular US beverage brand Honest Tea will no longer feature a Donald Trump quote under its caps after consumers expressed outrage on social media.

Still, the beverage's co-founder Seth Goldman stood by its use of the firebrand Republican presidential hopeful’s words of inspiration.

“Mr Trump’s quote, which was not political in nature, was removed because it had run its course, along with other great quotes like ‘Nature provides a free lunch, but only if we control our appetites’ – William Ruckelshaus,” Mr Goldman said in a blog post. The company updates its quotes every 12-18 months, he added.

Honest Tea caps available for a limited time feature Mr Trump’s words: “If you’re going to think anyway, you might as well think big.”

“There is nothing objectionable to the thinking in Mr Trump’s quote,” Mr Goldman said.

Mr Goldman defended the quotation after the company’s social media account responded to angry consumers in an apparent attempt to distance its brand from Mr Trump’s campaign, which in recent months has incensed American Mexicans, Muslims, women and others.

Twitter user Paul Shapiro, @pshapiro, tweeted a photo (above) of an Honest Tea cap featuring the quotation, to which @HonestTea replied, “We are in the process of having his quotes removed from our caps :)”

What followed was a deluge of opposition to the use of Mr Trump’s quotation.

Susan Hobbins, another Twitter user @shobbins wrote, “Oh no! Recall,” to which @HonestTea responded: “Don't worry! We're in the process of having his quote removed from our caps.”