A single joke on late-night TV emptied store shelves within a day
In December 1973, Johnny Carson joked on The Tonight Show about a looming toilet paper shortage, based on a real but overstated warning from a Wisconsin congressman. Viewers took it at face value, and stores across the US sold out within days as people stocked up out of fear. There was no actual supply shortfall, the panic itself created the empty shelves, and Carson later went on air to say so directly.