Johnny Carson, the infamous host of The Tonight Show, was not above making jokes on his show, and some of them caused quite a controversy. In 1973, he joked on the show about an alleged shortage of toilet paper. Viewers believed the story and began panic buying. Hoarding ensued across the country as consumers emptied stores. Unfortunately, the joke inadvertently caused a real toilet paper shortage that lasted for weeks. Stores and toilet paper manufacturers had to ration supplies until the panic ended. Carson, of course, apologized for the incident, which became what The New York Times called a “classic study in how rumors spread.” Carson called references to him in the article “very unfair.”
