And the watchdog has also seen complaints about advertising on the internet double, while the number of people complaining about TV advertising dropped.
Sex and nudity account for 40 per cent of all the complaints handled by the Advertising Standards Bureau, which has prompted an internal review of community perceptions about sex.
An outdoor ad in Victoria for Gasp Denim that showed a topless woman generated the most complaints, with 300 people calling for it to be banned. The complaint was dismissed.
Other advertisers to attract the ire of consumers included Target, Coke, Solo and KFC.
Erectile dysfunction company Advanced Medical Institute had three of the top 10 most-complained-about ads.
ASB chief executive Fiona Jolley said online ads had become a growing area of concern for consumers and while the number of complaints was growing off a small base, it was important for the ASB to be able to deal with them.
"In order for the self-regulation system to function appropriately, it is important that the Advertising Standards Board is able to consider complaints about material on all types of media that is accessible to consumers, including complaints arising from advertising seen on emerging media.," Ms Jolley said.
The fragmentation of audiences and the rise of the internet as an advertising medium saw the number of TV ads complained about decline by 9 per cent on 2008.
Just 58.9 per cent of complaints focused on TV ads -- the lowest percentage for the medium since the ASB was formed.
During the year, the ASB received complaints about 50 ads on a number of emerging new channels, including YouTube and social networking sites.
In total, the ASB received 3796 complaints about 595 ads, with 81 ads found to have breached the code. That was a huge jump over the previous year when 2422 complaints were made about 547 advertisements.
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