There's a real art to headline writing, particularly when you're trying to attract the attention of a rather apathetic audience.

      I routinely attempt to put provocative titles on my blog posts to attract more readers. "My Treatise on Misleading Advertising Practices for Space Heaters" won't get nearly the attention of "Hot Lesbians."

     People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has long-since figured this out. Many people are quick to dismiss them as nuts and ignore their events. Much as newspapers love protests, even they may hit the point where they'll ignore a handful of people complaining about fur coats or medical testing.

    But when they get a news release with the headline, "Woman Strips Naked to Protest Ringling Cruelty," they tend to perk up.

    "In a world where sex sells," said PETA event coordinator Virginia Fort, "getting naked is one of the best ways to get attention."

   Good point. The corner of New and Broad streets, Bethlehem, was swarming with TV cameramen, reporters and photographers today at lunchtime, drawn by the press release that began:

   "Confined to a cage with her nude body painted like a tiger and a banner above her reading, 'Wild Animals Don't Belong Behind Bars,' PETA member Christina Dang will protest the impending arrival of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus in Bethlehem.

  "'I'll gladly bare my skin if it will help expose Ringling's abusive treatment of animals,' says Dang. 'The best way to stop this abuse is for people to boycott Ringling and other circuses that use animals.'"

   I hardly peeked, but I can tell you that the comely Dang -- the photo above is by The Morning Call's Harry Fisher -- maintained an unsmiling, even frightened, expression as she crouched in the little cage wearing body paint, bikini bottoms, some kind of pasties and a strategically held sign. It was unclear whether this demeanor was to symbolize the plight of caged tigers, or just reflected the fact that she was ... well, pretty much nekkid in public. We were told this was her first time in the cage, although she wasn't talking herself.

   Fort said they're from PETA headquarters in Norfolk, Va., traveling around ahead of the circus. Most recently, they were in Newark, N.J.

   We can argue about whether people should patronize circuses that use animals, although I don't think there's much question that the animals in some cases are treated cruelly. The PETA volunteers gave out pamphlets about ill treatment of elephants, tigers and lions. You can read more about PETA's concerns at circuses.com.

    But it's hard to argue with the effectiveness of this approach. "By seeing this," Fort said, "they're going to stop and ask questions about what's going on."

   Hey, it got me there.