Modern advertising simply does not pack the punch it once did.

Beyond the Jet2 Holidays voice-over that sounds like it was recorded with a grin, I cannot think of anything that particularly stands out.

One advertising executive claims to know why.

Andrew Harrison was the marketing director behind Yorkie’s It’s Not for Girls campaign.

He has said such a campaign would be entirely unacceptable today because public humour has faded.

It is easy to imagine the outrage it would provoke.

People would miss the comedic purpose, the very thing that used to matter.

I lived through that period and women were perfectly able to buy Yorkies.

If legislation banned one gender from doing something, I would protest, but if something is merely a joke, it deserves to be treated as such.

The paradox he pointed out merits attention.

The campaign was created with significant input from senior women, including those at the advertising agency J Walter Thompson.

The women on the team helped make the advertisement telling women they could not have the chocolate.

Steve Allen maintains that a Yorkie Bar advertising campaign would be forbidden today.

It was considered amusing rather than something requiring global protest.

It was a response to the overly sexualised chocolate advertisements of that era.

Back then, Flakes were advertised by showing a woman in a bath.

Even the Cadbury’s Caramel bunny character was oddly appealing.

The Yorkie campaign ran from 2002 to 2012.

In 2006, Nestlé launched a pink wrapper version aimed at girls because female consumer demand was so strong they needed to create a product for the very people the original bar was not targeting.

I did not pursue legal action because I knew it was a joke and I could have bought one whenever I wanted without any pretence.

I would take Mr Harrison’s argument further by proposing the problem goes beyond just the decline of humour.

These days, jokes face more scrutiny than government policy, more than tax rises, more than matters of real importance.

Being meant as humour once justified acceptability.

Now it receives increased examination.

If a film script contains offensive language, it receives an 18 rating.

If a comedian delivers the same line on stage, their career would be over.

If you find a joke offensive, you lack sense and sound more like a confectionery product than the Yorkie itself.

Steve Allen is a comedian, broadcaster and author; for more from Steve, listen to his podcast Steve N Allen Almost Daily.