Beckhams top list of most overrated people in the US

With David Beckham deprived of the limelight by a badly sprained knee and his wife Victoria still smarting at being blanked by Britney Spears in a Hollywood restaurant, the profile in America of Britain's first celebrity couple already seemed to have reached its zenith in Tinseltown.

Now the first evidence has emerged that the novelty of Posh and Becks is wearing thin among the achingly trendy inhabitants of Manhattan after a cult magazine put the pair at the top of a "scientific" survey of the most overrated people, places or things in American life.

Radar, a New York-based title aimed at so-called opinion formers in the Big Apple and beyond, delivered a waspishly damning verdict on the UK's latest gift to culture on the other side of the Atlantic, saying: "He's an overpaid soccer star; she's a pointless collection of body parts."

The couple's ranking at the top of the "Overrated 100" put them comfortably ahead of their nearest competitors, which included Keira Knightley, Brad Pitt and going to Mars.

The magazine claimed to have arrived at its choices with a mathematical equation based on the number of references in the media to each candidate over the past three months, their longevity as celebrities or talking points and a rating of their inherent appeal.

Billing the survey as an antidote to hype, a Radar spokesman said: " Hype has become an epidemic. Publicists now have publicists of their own, entourages have entourages, and our culture's volume knob is permanently turned to 11, because otherwise how could be we possibly hear over the din?"

Since their arrival in Los Angeles in July, the Beckhams have been the subject of a carefully choreographed media campaign designed to woo Americans to their unique brand of sex appeal, soccer and sunglasses, complete with a prime-time documentary on the couple's move from Europe, entitled Coming to America, and a photo shoot of the pair in their underwear for the trendy W magazine.

But with David sidelined by injury at his new club, LA Galaxy, and Victoria being dismissed by The New York Times as being "somewhat famous for being sort of famous", it seems the east coast cognoscenti have had their fill of the former England captain and some-time Spice Girl. It was recently reported that Posh was pointedly snubbed by the pop star Britney Spears at the select Hollywood hotel Chateau Marmont.

The couple are by no means the only creations of contemporary culture to earn the ire of the magazine's writers with the networking website Facebook, the Ugly Betty star America Ferrera and the country China – ranked 18th and dismissed as a "bubble waiting to burst" – having their inflated reputations pricked alongside ballet shoes, cocaine, jeans and pilates.

Knightley, tipped for an Oscar nomination for her performance in the film of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement, becomes the second Briton to make the list and is ranked at number 15 for being "the lantern-jawed Brit [who] couldn't act her way out of a paper corset".

Too many blips on the radar

Posh and Becks

"It's not that they're untalented. They arch their backs nicely in porny W fashion shoots. They're excellent at peddling fragrances. But is that any reason for a besotted media to swarm them daily... to muse on his chances of being knighted? He's an overpaid soccer star, she's a pointless collection of body parts."

Brad Pitt

"Were it not for his extraordinary good looks, bullshit would have been called on this hollow Adonis long ago. Throughout his history as a celebrity , the guy most likely to be found attractive by other straight guys has starred in mediocre films while consistently co-opting the personality traits of his lady friends."

Keira Knightley

"Bombshell actresses offend in two ways: when they claim they were geeks in high school and when they prattle on about the promotion of unattainable body types while flaunting their bony decolletage on magazine covers. Keira Knightley is guilty on both counts. Even worse... she couldn't act her way out of a paper corset."

'Smart' superhero movies

"Batman Begins, Superman Returns, X-Men, the whole Spider-Man series: Each one... is always exactly like the other ones. Well over two hours of painful exposition, a noisy chaotic denouement, and a protagonist whose canned inner turmoil is supposed to be interesting. Shut up and hurl a car at a helicopter."

Grey's Anatomy

"Medical dramas were on life support before Grey's resuscitated the genre with a mixture of blood, jokes and sex. But its downfall was inevitable. All series based around a group of permanent cast members swapping sex partners devolve into sappy melodramas. Turns out, Grey's took the plunge faster than 90210."