The original billboards, which asked "Want longer lasting sex?", first came under fire in April when The Herald revealed their erection at Newcastle Showground only days before the Newcastle Show.

Parents complained the billboards were inappropriate at the family-friendly venue and close to schools, leading to the message being removed and re-erected near a strip club and adult store at Newcastle West.

Similar complaints about the giant yellow and red billboards soon followed from Sydney and Melbourne, prompting the national advertising watchdog to ban them last month.

But the company behind the message, Advanced Medical Institute, has found a way around the ban, re-erecting billboards throughout Newcastle at the weekend which feature a large "censored" over the word "sex".

The new billboards feature prominently at a Newcastle West site and in Glebe Road at Merewether.

Advanced Medical Institute head Jack Vaisman said the new ads were not a cheeky swipe at the Advertising Standards Bureau.

"We have to comply with the bureau's regulations and we decided that we would change the message," Mr Vaisman said.