The press ads, which showed pictures of dead people appearing to advertise cosmetic products, triggered 103 complaints from members of the public and from the cosmetics industry.
They showed the same images that were seen on 96-sheet poster sites, which were banned by the advertising watchdog for causing offence soon after they broke in May.
The print ads ran in the Radio Times, the Evening Standard, Hello magazine, Time Out and in supplements in The Observer and The Times newspapers. Online, the ads ran on the website for Emap's magazine.
One of the offending ads featured the face and naked torso of a man lying horizontally with a picture of a bottle labeled "In Eternum embalming fluid" in the foreground.
Smaller text on the bottle read "Fisher & Sons Funeral Home", referring to the firm of undertakers the show is based around.
Another ad featured a woman's face, with lips open and eyes opaque. The right-hand side of the ad showed a bottle labelled "In Eternum wound filler", and the text "Fisher & Sons Funeral Home'.
Like the posters, the ads directed readers to a website at , which contains information about the programme.
Complaints from members of the public and the Cosmetics, Toiletry & Perfumery Association objected to the ads on the grounds that they were offensive and could cause undue distress, and because they failed to carry any Channel 4 or 'Six Feet Under' branding.
Channel 4 argued that although the images "seemed to depict death, the artwork was respectful and the models used were uninjured". It also said that the website contained information about the series.
The Advertising Standards Authority said that the ads were unlikely to cause widespread offence because readers would have time to study the ads and would recognise the stylised images as part of a spoof campaign.
Bill Griffin, Channel 4 head of marketing, said: "We are glad that the ASA has recognised that these ads were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence. Our intention was to produce a satirical campaign, which accurately conveyed the editorial values of the show, not to gratuitously shock. The images were arresting and unusual and succeeded in achieving this and it remains an advertising campaign of which we are proud."
However, the regulator said that the absence of Channel 4 or 'Six Feet Under' branding would mean that people were "more likely to be confused or misled, than amused" by the advertiser's ironic approach and told the broadcaster not to repeat the concept.
"With regards to the second judgement, we can understand that the ads were potentially confusing to those not familiar with the show and will comply with the ASA judgement to prevent such ambiguity from occurring in the future," Griffin said.
Most of the publications supported the campaign. The Radio Times said it was happy with the ads, despite receiving 75 complaints, and Time Out said it believed its readers were "adult enough to be offered an image that was a humorous parody of a black comedy series", while The Times said it thought the ads were subtle and ironic.
Hello took 20 complaints and said it was unhappy because the ad that was supplied was different to the one that had been approved for publication at an earlier date. The Evening Standard said it had received "a number" of objections to the ads mainly from the recently bereaved and the elderly.
The campaign was similar to an ad campaign for Fisher & Sons that was featured in an earlier series of the show.
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