One Bowl of M&M's, Brown Ones Removed

The rock band Van Halen is legendary for its "no brown M&M's" contract clause. The band was the first to take huge productions on the road. It traveled with nine 18-wheeler trucks full of pyrotechnics, musical equipment, amplifiers and instruments. Its concert preparation contract was 150 pages of very specific and detailed stage setup instructions and electrical requirements; the contract also specified that there must be a bowl of M&M's backstage with the brown ones removed.

What sounds like a diva request by flashy, high maintenance musicians pushing the limits was actually an easily observable behavioral indicator. This was lead singer David Lee Roth's easy way of determining whether the technical specifications of the contract had been thoroughly read and complied with. When Roth arrived backstage, he'd check the bowl of M&M's: if there were brown ones, he knew the contract hadn't been followed; if...