Pale, stale and male.

You’re forgiven if you have those associations with the insurance industry.

Paradoxically, though, insurance companies produce some of the most entertaining television ads, ads that are far from pale, stale and male. (The Hartford and State Farm are exceptions. They seem bent on keeping with tradition.)

The Insurance Marketing Communications Association (that’s IMCA for those of you who know the organization only by its acronym) recently issued a release examining trends in insurance advertising.

IMCA says more insurers are abandoning the fear-mongering tactics of old ads.

Insurance companies developing new brand positions or ad campaigns seem to be using other messages besides “fear of risk” to communicate with consumers. Many insurance companies are trying to build long-term relationships with their best customers - and they are finding that their advertising needs to have a different appeal in order to attract and retain good customers.

If GEICO, Aflac and Travelers are any indication, building a long-term relationship means being funny. I like this development.

Using myself as a case study, I would have to say (without any empirical force) that funny ads are good investments. They build goodwill. Why? Because the ads are essentially free prizes. When I see the GEICO cavemen, I get a good laugh, courtesy of GEICO (or whoever makes their ads). It may not lead me to immediately breakup with my insurer, but I will remember that free prize the next time I go insurance shopping.

Despite the trend toward humor, there are still some ad campaigns that present a gloomy, risk-laden image of daily life, an effort that’s clearly designed to feed insecurities. I give this approach the thumbs down. (I mean, we all know we need insurance. And we don’t need to be reminded that the world is a dangerous place.)

Allstate seems to be hedging, airing both funny ads (the misadventures of the smitten Nascar ladies) and fear-mongering ones (the spots narrated by Dennis Haysbert).

Here are some ad links (with some commentary). You’ll notice one insurer has a good showing. While I wish this list had more diversity, GEICO is going to dominate any list devoted to funny insurance ads. If you only have time to watch one ad , though, watch the one for Blue Cross Blue Sheild.

Allstate: Mixed bag. Nascar ladies are funny. Dennis Haysbert is better as the president.

Travelers: Human snowball. Well done but a little disturbing.

Esurance: Animated, futuristic, bizarrre.

Progressive: Guy in white suit with dry delivery. Undecided.

Farmers: Sort of cool, sort of creepy.

The Hartford: As much as I dig the iconic stag, I’m not into the digitalized version.

Aflac: That poor goose.

GEICO: Silly lizard with an Aussie accent. Diminishing returns.

GEICO: Burt Bacharach is pitch perfect.

GEICO: Off-put Cavemen loses his appetite. Still finding it hard to believe there are people who don’t like the cavemen.

GEICO: Off-put caveman in airport. (The person behind that bewitching soundtrack? Erlend Oye.)

GEICO: The tiny house. The spot Slate.com declared “The Best Ad on Television.”

Blue Cross Blue Shield: My favorite. “He was injured. Injured bad.”

Nationwide: “Life Comes at You Fast.” Mediocre.