The popular War Stories column, which presents humorous tales of life in the research trenches, has historically been compiled by Art Shulman, president of Shulman Research in Van Nuys, Calif. Each month in our e-newsletters we feature anecdotes from past War Stories columns and over time, we have received a handful of submissions from our e-newsletter readers who want to share their own outlandish or otherwise entertaining experiences of research gone just-slightly awry.
Submit your own War Story today!
A former prizefighter
April 14, 2026
Betsy Bernstein recalls a focus group among small business owners, where the owner of a boxing firm – a former prizefighter – started actively using his phone for emails and texting. The boxer had arrived at the session late and missed the initial phones off reminder, so to keep him engaged with the session, Bernstein politely asked him to turn his phone off. He said no; he needed to stay in touch with his business. OK. Small business. He had already said that his business is his life.
A few minutes later he proceeded to stand up and pass out business cards to everyone in the group. Bernstein again asked him if he could defer this activity until the end of the session, at which point this prizefighter said she was "really beginning to piss him off." The group helped reach a compromise and the session ended without incident.
An hour after the session ended, the facility received a call from the boxer with an apology. He thought he had been invited to a networking event where he was paying $250 to attend. Imagine his surprise when he received $250 instead.
The morale of the story? Even though we think we are explaining the research process – many times and through many channels – to the inexperienced respondent, coming to a focus group isn't always what they expect it to be.
Rate the statements
March 31, 2026
Shelley Donow tells about a telephone interview conducted with a high-level executive who was asked to rate the statements using a 1 to 10 scale. When the interviewer got to the 11th statement, the respondent replied, "I can't answer that one," which was the same answer he gave when the next statement was read. When the interviewer asked why he couldn't rate it, this high-powered leader said, "I have no numbers left. I used them all up." Ah, the simple difference between rating and ranking.
The toilet tank
March 16, 2026
Karen Hendersin reports that when she first started in marketing research in the mid-‘70s she conducted many door-to-door studies. In one, interviewers asked respondents if they could take a picture of the toilet tank. They’d be paid $5 and given a sample of an in-tank cleaner (a new idea at the time). Then, later the company would come back, take a new picture and collect opinion on the product. Some consumers became suspicious and reported her company to the police, who in turn asked local radio stations to announce that her company should not be let in because it was assumed they were casing the houses for robberies. One radio station referred to it as the “crapper caper.”
The test product disappeared
February 24, 2026
Al Popelka remembers the time his company was shipping product around the country for a peanut butter taste test, and the test product for one city disappeared. In the midst of the sweat and tears of vexation, one of his project directors came up with the only logical solution, "It must be stuck to the roof of the truck!"
'In the dumpster'
February 10, 2026
Many years ago, Kevin Dona was as a young analyst working in the CPG arena, and had a colleague who was managing an in-home test of a new dip. She approached Dona one day in a slight panic and said, "I don't know what to do about these results." It was a simple question of where consumers expected to find the product in the store. Enough people selected "other specify" with the response "in the dumpster" that it was coded and showing up in the client tables. After tasting the sample, Dona recommended leaving that consumer suggestion.
Tartar and plaque
January 20, 2026
During one group among denture wearers, the discussion turned to tartar and plaque. When one man said something moderator Sharon Livingston couldn't understand, he removed his denture, thrust it in her face and asked, "Is this what you're talking about, honey?"
Door-to-door in sub-zero weather
January 6, 2026
Chuck Teaman tells about being a new researcher who had occasion to accompany an interviewer door-to-door in sub-zero Midwestern weather on a home placement callback interview.
When the interviewer came to the overall rating question (a 5-point asymmetrical scale) and read the scale choices, the respondent answered, "I liked it fine," The interviewer said, "Oh, you mean excellent," promptly circled "Excellent" and went on to the next question. Teaman didn't want to interrupt so he spoke to the interviewer afterward, who assured him that, "Well, everybody knows 'fine' means 'excellent' in Peoria, Ill.!"