The Jay Leno Show' tops 'American Idol' for product placement in 2009

By Andy Grieser December 14, 2009 8:39 AM

Jay wins! Sort of. Nielsen's annual list of product placement-heavy television puts "The Jay Leno Show" squarely at No. 1. Drink more Coke, Simon Cowell: "American Idol" came in a distant fourth.

Jay's 1,015 product mentions give him a commanding lead over "WWE Monday Night Raw" (787 mentions) and "The Biggest Loser" (704).

Even with the ever-present Coke glasses at the judges' table and those awful Ford-based skits, "Idol" had only 553 mentions in 2009.

Round out the list:

• "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (483 mentions)
• "The Celebrity Apprentice" (428)
• "Top Chef: Las Vegas" (412)
• "America's Next Top Model" (380)
• "Project Runway" (350)
• "Dancing With the Stars" (331)

The counts are somewhat inexact: Nielsen counts both intentional plugs and accidental brand appearances.