Moneysupermarket’s ad featuring a bodyguard busting out old-school dance moves and a crotch grab was the most complained-about TV ad in the UK last year.

The TV ad, part of the brand’s “So Moneysupermarket” campaign about consumers who feel “epic” after saving cash using the price comparison website, features “Gary the bodyguard”, who at one point is seen doing a Michael Jackson-style crotch grab and gyrations.

The ad, which features original Bronx breakdancer Mr Wave, who appeared in the 1984 film Beat Street, prompted 1,063 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority that it was overtly sexual and not suitable to be seen by children.

Despite the level of complaints, the watchdog cleared it of any breach of the UK advertising code, ruling that most people would view it as humorous, not distasteful.

It was a pretty epic year for Moneysupermarket in the complaints stakes, with three of its ads making the top 10 list and a total of more than 2,500 complaints.

The price comparison site’s dance-off between Dave, the businessman who strutted his stuff in denim hotpants and high heels, and builder Colin managed to offend 898 people, taking second place in the complaints list.

Dave’s solo “epic strut” ad, which featured a bemused Sharon Osbourne witnessing his twerking, was the most complained-about ad back in 2015.

Moneysupermarket also took fourth place with 530 people complaining to the advertising watchdog about another ad featuring Dave and Colin.

In each case viewers complained that the ads were “overtly sexual” and offensive.

While the top 10 ads attracted almost 5,000 complaints (4,872), the ASA said that none of them crossed the line between bad taste and offence, which meant none received bans.

“The ads that attract the highest number of complaints are often not the ones that need banning,” said Guy Parker, chief executive of the ASA. “Our action leads to thousands of ads being amended or withdrawn each year, mostly for being misleading, but there wasn’t one misleading ad in the top 10 in 2016.”

The 2016 list also contained a number of ads that tried to present positive statements about diversity, but drew significant numbers of complaints from viewers.

A TV ad for dating site Match.com featuring two women kissing received 896 complaints, taking third spot, with many viewers upset at the lesbian portrayal.

And a light-hearted ad for Maltesers featuring a woman in a wheelchair joking about how her disability caused her to have a spasm during sex which her boyfriend “misinterpreted” received 151 complaints. It ranked 10th on the list.

The Moneysupermarket ads featuring Dave also drew complaints from some viewers that did not like the portrayal of what they perceived as a homosexual character.

“There are a number of ads which have also sought to present a positive statement about diversity but were in fact seen by some as doing the opposite,” said Parker. “In those cases, we thought people generally would see the ads in a positive light and that the boundary between bad taste and serious or widespread offence had been navigated well enough.”

Moneysupermarket’s 2016 winner pales in the offensiveness stakes compared with Paddy Power’s 2014 winner, which offered money back if Oscar Pistorious “walked” from his murder trial, and which is the most complained-about ad of all time with 5,525.

2016’s most complained about ads

1. Moneysupermarket – 1,063

2. Moneysupermarket – 898

3. Match.com – 896

4. Moneysupermarket – 530

5. Paddy Power – 450

6. Smart Energy – 253

7. Paddy Power – 220

8. Home Office – 216

9. Gourmet Burger Kitchen – 195

10. Maltesers – 151

Source: ASA