Apparently it can. A post here by the owner of a 2003 Trailblazer replaced his spark plugs and got a misfire code. Turns out one of the new plugs was bad.
And here’s a quote from a guy on a Ford forum about finding a new spark plug with no electrode:
" My wife’s brother is an auto-mechanic, and he showed me a spark plug when I was in his shop. He kept it in his toolbox as a constant reminder to check the simple things that no one thinks to check. The person’s vehicle in question did what you did and brought it to several different mechanics, and even had several mechanics at the dealership (where he worked) look at it and couldn’t find anything. Finally, he thought to look at the spark plugs and one of them actually was hollow. After he disassembled the spark plug, the internals were missing. It was just a bum spark plug, but who would ever think to check it when it looks fine from the outside?"
Has anyone else come across a bad ( new ) plug? Which brand was it?