How 'Big Bang Theory' Dominated The 10 Best Product Placements of 2011

sheldon big bang theory

Nielsen has announced the 10 most remembered product placements for 2011, and it turns out that dollars spent on brand integration don't necessarily guarantee a memorable moment.

Check out the 10 most memorable product placements of 2011>>

Reality shows like "The Biggest Loser" and "American Idol" are notorious for spending millions on product placement. In fact, they came in first and second for the number of individual instances of product placement between January 1 and November 30. ("Idol" had 577 occurrences and "Loser" had 533).

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But not one show on Nielsen's list of the 10 shows with most product placement appeared on the list of most-memorable moments.

Viewers didn't remember Subway 24 hours after watching "The Biggest Loser" like they did after watching Big Mike, from NBC's "Chuck", emerging victorious from being kidnapped, sandwich in hand. Nor did they remember Ashton's Kutcher's tech-driven antics on "Two And A Half Men", but they did notice his love of Snapple.

subway biggest loser CBS's "Big Bang Theory" had three of the 10 most memorable moments. And, apparently, it was unintentional.

When the list came out, Bill Prady, the show's co-creator and executive producer, tweeted "I'm not aware of #bigbangtheory doing any paid product placement. We use real brand names so dialogue doesn't sound fake."

Brand: Purell

Program: The Big Bang Theory (CBS, October 27)

Situation: Sheldon uses hand sanitizer immediately after placing a live snake in his friend Raj's drawer. Watch as he emphatically repeats, "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Purell. Purell!"