Consumers are growling at the advertising watchdog about sexism and gender stereotyping.

But in two out of three complaints adjudicated in the past month, the Advertising Regulatory Board has wagged its tail and licked the advertiser’s face.

The exception was an ad for Nancefield Paints of Booysens, in Johannesburg, in Speed and Sound magazine. It featured a model spreading her legs on the bonnet of a sports car while wearing thigh-high boots and a cleavage-exposing jumpsuit...