MUMBAI: The BBC got itself into hot water over an ad it aired promoting the Wimbledon tennis grand Slam which kicks off today 20 June.
Since it aired 10 days ago the British pubcaster has received 140 complaints saying that children were getting upset. The ad shows a player shattering into tiny fragments as she is hit by a tennis ball
Now media reports indicate that as a result the BBC has decied not to show the ad during children’s programming. In addition, the ad will not air before or after any shows in which one in 10 viewers are children.

The BBC issued a statement saying that the ad was aimed at showing the physical and mental pressure of playing tennis at such a high-profile championship as Wimbledon, and the idea that Wimbledon is the tournament that makes or breaks players.

In its statement the BBC said that the image of the player shattering is meant to look like china shattering in a delicate way."By showing that one player has broken it implies that the other is the winner."

Programmes where more than 10 per cent of the audience are typically children include EastEnders,Top of the Pops, Dr Who and Neighbours. In April, the BBC was forced to advise an age limit of eight for the new series of Dr Who, starring Christopher Eccleston. As many as 100 parents complained that their children were suffering from sleepless nights after the opening episode featured ghoulish aliens and corpses.