Elon Musk, currently the world's richest Martian, now has the ability to trigger seismic commercial shifts based on whatever he says.

And as Musk recently recommended that users switch from Facebook's WhatsApp to the Signal messenging service due to new privacy concerns, he also triggered a buying spree for Signal toothpaste.

Obviously many Musk-followers simply heard the word "signal", assumed he was referring to the striped toothpaste and headed for their nearest 7-Eleven to stock up. Now you can't find a tube of Signal anywhere.

A spokesperson for Mr Musk commented:

Mr Musk is pleased that his recent statement, albeit misinterpreted by his followers, will result in better oral hygiene around the world. Perhaps this will also help to counter the candy-binging that occured when Elon said he was aiming for Mars and triggered a run on Mars bars.

A spokesperson for Unilver, makers of Signal, told FNN:

We were thinking of renaming Signal to "Rainbow" to try to capture more LGBT buyers but following Mr Musk's endorsement there is no chance of that happening and we are working flat-out to handle the demand.

A spokesperson for rival firm Colgate commented:

We will be complaining to the S.E.C as this is clearly a blatant attempt by Mr Musk to manipulate the toothpaste stock market and further increase his personal wealth.

EU spokesperson Ursula von Richthofen also commented:

The EU is well placed to ride the demand for Signal from EU citizens as we have a toothpaste mountain located in a hidden bunker in Germany, stockpiled for just this reason. 

While our citizens will continue to benefit from regular brushing with Signal, those gap-toothed, foul-breathed leave voters in the UK will be forced to go to the dentist more often. Vorspung Durch Teknik!