A crippling analysis method has been utilized to estimate the compression strength paperboard boxes. Crippling analysis is typically utilized in the aerospace industry to predict the compressive failure strength of thin, slender structures with complex cross‐sectional geometry. This type of analysis is investigated, because crippling is a simple, predictive method that can provide very good estimates of the compressive failure strength of thin, slender structures. This preliminary study investigates the possibility of applying crippling analysis to estimate paperboard box compression strength by comparing experimental and theoretical results for box compression tests of milk and cigarette boxes in various loading scenarios and with various materials. This preliminary study shows that the crippling method provides results which are almost as accurate as pre‐existing methods, although significant work remains to verify the validity and applicability of the crippling approach for paper‐based boxes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.