In this brief article, the author illustrates the flaws of FOIL (multiply the First, Outer, Inner, and Last terms of two binomials) and introduces the box method. Much like FOIL, the box method can become easy to use. Unlike FOIL, however, the box method is a more direct and visible link to using the distributive property to determine area, a concept that students are already familiar with, and this method also works for the multiplication of all polynomials, not just binomials. Because of these conceptual links, it is easy for teachers to draw attention back to the essentials of the distributive property and area as their students use the box method in their classes. This makes teaching the box method a nice balance between a conceptual understanding of the distributive property and the procedural fluency that students need.