Hulu research says 46% of people lie about what they watch on TV.

A recent Hulu Insights study of over 1,000 adults who have watched TV in the past six months found that close to half of those surveyed lied about watching a show in order to fit into a conversation. 

You know the water-cooler conversation. That is, if there is a water cooler at your place of work. (Don’t bring a plastic water bottle to work!)

Men 18-49 lie twice as much as women about TV -- 62% versus 32% for women 18-49. Maybe I shouldn’t have made small-talk with that Starbucks barista about watching “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

Millennials? They really want to be in the conversation about TV -- 18-34 lie 55% of the time. (Really? But millennials don’t even watch TV, according to other media researchers.) 

Guessing it is all about multitasking here. A certain segment of society can get caught up on specific episodes of series while cruising around social media -- and who better can do that?

This isn’t a one time thing at all -- 75% of those said they have lied about TV in the last three months. What does this all mean? That we all want to be cool when it comes popular culture. Who wants to be left out of the conversation -- especially when it comes to keeping pace on 409 scripted TV shows!

This kind of research reflects a deeper concern beyond actual TV “ratings.” It not only speaks to viewing but engagement and recall -- brand recall, specifically.

In keeping with full disclosure, Jenny Wall, Chief Marketing Officer of Hulu, told Business Insider: “We are all human... I’ve lied about watching ‘Breaking Bad’.”

Don’t worry about me, Nielsen. My regular prime-time watching comes from PBS and Discovery Channel. And I’m still enjoying the new season of “American Idol.”  Wanna talk about it?

This TV Watch column was previously posted Oct. 19.