A TV commercial about insurance depicting a Brisbane Broncos NRL player stealing chocolate bars from a vending machine has been banned.

The Australian Advertising Bureau made the ruling on Monday which has forced insurance company NRMA to modify their advertisement.

The ad shows Broncos players helping out around the NRMA office.

League star Sam Thaiday is shown jiggling a vending machine to dislodge a chocolate bar he purchased which had become stuck.

Scores of chocolate bars fall out of the machine because of the player's size and strength.

In a statement the Advertising Standards Bureau said the ad depicted a theft because the player would not have paid "for the number of products that fell from the machine."

"The image of the man shaking the machine from the top is a depiction of an activity that can cause injury."

NRMA has defended the commercial as light-hearted and humorous.

"We were surprised by the Advertising Standards Bureaus findings," the company said in a statement.

"However, as soon as we received their ruling, the advertisement was amended.

"The vending machine scene has been removed and replaced with other footage and the ad is back on air.

"We certainly did not intend to cause any offence."

The company said the commercial was supposed to be funny.

"The humour of the ad is to show, in a light hearted manner, that the Broncos are a bit out of place in a typical office environment," the company said.

The Advertising Standards Board banned the ad following viewer complaints.

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