If you want to turn people towards perl, just show them something that uses LWP, and then how to do the same in C - if you can!!
Right there is actually one place where Perl could improve its reputation: Perl advocates need to stop comparing Perl to C. It made sense 10 years ago, but these days, if you want to be taken seriously, comparisons need to be made with languages that a prospective user might use instead of Perl. Namely, Python, Java, and maybe Ruby.
Nowadays, if you compare Perl to C, it looks like you're trying to avoid the real competition.