The animated ad was created by Saatchi & Saatchi and showed various situations of child abuse, including a boy being shouted at by his drunken father and a girl being dragged by her mother to a car and then being hit.
The full-length version, along with a cut-down version, was cleared for screening with an ex-kids restriction, meaning it could not be shown in or around children's programming.
Of the 11 viewers who complained about the ad, seven said that it had upset their young children, with a further four saying that they believed the ads had been shown too early.
The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre, which originally imposed the ex-kids restriction, put a pre-9pm watershed ban on the ad, having already warned the NSPCC that it would restrict broadcast if it received complaints.
The advertiser said it had researched the ad to ensure that it was not communicating child abuse in a way that would add further stress to children, and that children supported the message and the way it was communicated.
The advertising watchdog said it sympathised with the difficulties faced by the NSPCC and Saatchi & Saatchi in getting the message about child abuse to as many people as possible, but said that suitable timing restrictions must be used.
"In this case, the animated style and child-related music was particularly attractive to young children and was likely to capture their attention. As the ads progressed the material became quite distressing and, as the complaints showed, children were upset," the Advertising Standards Authority said in its adjudication.
Separately, it was revealed on Tuesday that Childline, the charity set up by Esther Rantzen for children with problems, is to merge with the NSPCC. The charity, set up in 1986, has been running out of money to run its 24-hour helpline and the merger with the NSPCC will mean it remains as a free service for any child or young person with problems they wish to discuss.
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