Super Bowl XLV Draws Record Viewers

By Sharmaine Jones

The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday. But you already knew that.

More people watched MVP Aaron Rodgers lead the Packers to their first title in 14 years than any other televised event. Super Bowl XLV set the record for the most-watched television program in U.S. history with 111 million viewers — 10 million of them Hispanic, also making it the most-watched show among U.S. Hispanic viewers (surpassing the 2010 World Cup final at 8.95 million viewers), according to The Nielsen Company. That doesn't include the 103,000 fans who crammed into Cowboys Stadium to watch the big game or the 1,200 ticket-holders who stood outside the arena because the seating hadn't been finished.

But you want to know about all of those other juicy details, like Christina Aguilera mixing up the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner," The Black Eyed Peas rocking the halftime show with special guest Usher, John Travolta and Ron Howard hanging out in the stands or Cameron Diaz feeding popcorn to Alex Rodriguez.

Most of the action — and controversy — happened during the commercials. Groupon managed to offend multiple countries — including China, home of its single largest investor — with its envelope-pushing Tibet-themed ad featuring Timothy Hutton. But the knockout ad of the night had been racking up views on YouTube long before it aired: In Volkswagen's "The Force," an ambitious little tyke dressed as Darth Vader repeatedly tries to move household objects with his mind to no avail. When Dad gets home in his 2012 Volkswagen Passat, the boy is amazed that his attempt to turn the car on telepathically "succeeds" — with a little help from Dad's remote starter key, of course.

What was your favorite Super Bowl XLV moment? Tell us in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Aaron Rodgers, alex Rodriguez, Ben Roethlisberger, Black Eyed Peas, Cameron Diaz, Christina Aguilera, Football, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Super Bowl XLV, Usher, Volkswagen The Force