Is Canada facing a donut shortage after the first day of cannabis legalization? No, that's not true: the story was made up by a Canadian satire website after cannabis was officially legalized, but the donut part is not real.
The story originated from an article published by World News Daily Reporet on October 18, 2018 titled "Canadians face major donut shortage after first day of cannabis legalization" (archived here) which opened:
The legalization of marijuana in Canada had unintended consequences on several Tim Horton's stores which were forced to close because of shortages in donuts and pastries. 17 Tim Horton's in seven different provinces were forced to close earlier than usual for lack of staff and the shortage of donut
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Canadians face major donut shortage after first day of cannabis legalization
The legalization of marijuana in Canada had unintended consequences on several Tim Horton's stores which were forced to close because of shortages in donuts and pastries. 17 Tim Horton's in seven different provinces were forced to close earlier than usual for lack of staff and the shortage of donut
The website World News Daily Report is a well known satire website specialized in posting hoaxes and made up stories. The disclaimer on their website is pretty clear about that even though you have to scroll all the way down the page to find it:
World News Daily Report assumes all responsibility for the satirical nature of its articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website - even those based on real people - are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any person, living, dead or undead, is purely a miracle.
It is run by Janick Murray-Hall and Olivier Legault, who also run the satirical Journal de Mourréal, a satirical site spoofing the (real) Journal de Montéal. Very often their stories feature an image showing a random crazy mugshot found in a mugshot gallery on the internet or on a stock photo website superimposed over a background of flashing police lights or crime scene tape.
Articles from the site are frequently copied (sometimes even months or years later) by varous fake news websites that omit the satire disclaimer and present the information as real.
We wrote about worldnewsdailyreport.com before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: Woman NOT Arrested For Trying Out Dozens of Sex Toys In Walmart Store
- Fake News: Pro-Choice Activist Did NOT Break World Record By Getting 27th Abortion
- Fake News: Daughter NOT Kicked Out of Home After She Refused To Wash Hair For Six Years
- Fake News: Obese Couple Did NOT Make Three-Story Fall After Floor Collapses During Sex
- Fake News: Australian Police Officer NOT Beaten And Sexually Assaulted By Kangaroo
