Adverts showing a woman struggling to park a car or a man refusing to do housework while his wife cooks dinner will be banned from next year as part of an industry-wide crackdown on sexist stereotypes.

Under the new rules, British companies will no longer be able to create promotions that depict men and women engaged in gender-stereotypical activities, amid fears that such depictions are contributing to pay inequality and causing psychological harm.

Adverts will no longer be able to show a person failing to achieve a task specifically because of their gender, such as a man unable to change a nappy or a woman unable to do DIY.

The rules will also ban adverts that suggest that transforming your body will make you romantically successful, while also clarifying rules on the sexualisation of young women.

The Advertising Standards Authority will enforce the new code from June 2019. Members of the public will be able to report adverts to the regulator if they feel they breach the code.

The ASA’s Ella Smillie, who helped to devise the new rules, said: “We don’t see ourselves as social engineers, we’re reflecting the changing standards in society. Changing ad regulation isn’t going to end gender inequality but we know advertising can reinforce harmful gender stereotypes, which can limit people’s choices or potential in life.”

She highlighted the real-world harms that resulted from gender inequality, such as the gender pay gap, low rates of women seeking careers in science and the large number of men struggling with mental health issues.

The ASA is aware that it is likely to face criticism over the new rules from people who feel they are too politically correct. But the organisation feels the advertising industry has already moved on since the 2000s, when brands such as Lynx would advertise to teenage boys using over-sexualised imagery or Nestlé promoted its Yorkie chocolate bar under the “It’s Not for Girls” banner.

“Advertisers are already going in this direction. Tired old tropes don’t really work with consumers any more,” Smillie said.

She said comedy would not serve as a defence. “The use of humour or banter is unlikely to mitigate against the potential for harm. It’s fine to show people undertaking gender-stereotypical roles such a woman cleaning. But if an advert showed a woman being solely responsible for cleaning up mess within a home while a man sits around with his feet up, then that would be a problem.”

The ASA operates a system of self-regulation but all major advertisers have signed up to its code of practice. The new rules were developed following a consultation process partly prompted by the outcry over adverts in 2015 for the slimming product Protein World, which promised to make women “beach body ready”. The regulator concluded that the adverts did not explicitly break its rules but they were later banned for unrelated health reasons.

Other examples of adverts that will be banned include those that belittle men for carrying out stereotypically “female” roles or tasks; adverts that emphasise the contrast between a boy’s stereotypical personality and a girl’s; and adverts aimed at new mothers that suggests that looking attractive or keeping a home pristine is a priority for their emotional wellbeing.

However, the ASA emphasised that adverts featuring glamorous, attractive, successful or healthy people – such as many of the perfume adverts currently on screens in the run-up to Christmas – would still be allowed, providing they do not reinforce harmful stereotypes.

There is no ban on adverts featuring only people of one gender, while promotions that mock gender stereotypes in order to bring about changes in society will also be allowed.

Adverts that were studied as part of the consultation include a 2012 Asda promotion that showed a mother struggling to organise Christmas Day while a father sat around watching TV. Similar depictions could be banned under the new rules, although many members of the public who were shown the advert as part of the consultation thought that it was both sexist and realistic at the same time.

In another test, children were shown an advert featuring a young girl playing with Lego. Many of the children struggled with “cognitive dissonance” as a result of the advert, because they considered the building blocks to be a toy for boys.

The rules will cover adverts in newspapers, magazines, on television, in cinema, on leaflets and on the internet. They will apply to paid-for promoted posts by celebrities on services such as Instagram, providing the advertiser paying the social media influencer had final approval over the post.

The code was developed after discussions with advertisers and was approved by the Committee of Advertising Practice, the ASA’s sister organisation.