The single best fast food restaurant in the history of the world, ever

“Give the people what they want” is and always will be a relative concept, because not everyone wants the same thing (unless you’re in prison awaiting execution, in which case, I’ve heard cheeseburger and fries is pretty much the standard). Nowhere is that more true than in the world of QSR’s (aka Fast Food).

There’s Chipotle, my personal favorite, who goes out of their way to show their dedication to their fans, offering extremely high quality, fresh food, and topping it off with their Cultivate festivals highlighting healthy, locally sourced food (and music).

Sadly, there’s, KFC, whose Double Down (1380 mg of salt) set healthy eating back to a time when men were men and Doctors smoked in their examination rooms.

But happily, there’s Panera, who has more than made up for KFC’s artery-clogging abuse of humankind with their Panera Cares Cafes. What makes these Paneras special? You pay what you like.

Prices are posted, and when you order, you’re told what the full cost would be; you can pay what they ask for, or you can pay more. And most important, you can pay less—even nothing.

This is a brave, audacious, wonderfully twisted idea. No doubt, it’s inspired by our nasty economic situation. Kudos to Panera for having the guts to do it, and after a successful trial run, they’re opening up more.

A good old friend of mine always liked to say that Confidence = Generosity and there’s truly nothing more confident than giving something away, whether it’s something you can hold in your hand like a sandwich, or something you can pass on that creates value for others, like a great idea.

For better and worse, America is the home of giving people what they want. So you can cram bacon, cheese, and fried chicken into the stupidest most unhealthy sandwich since the Earl put meat between bread, and get people to like you for a little while, or at least until the saturated fat overtakes their limbic mode and they forget they ever ate it.

Or you can give people trying to get back on their feet the opportunity to have a meal once a day, so maybe, on that day, he or she will have the physical and mental energy to make that one additional call and get that interview s/he’s been hoping for, and who knows what could happen from there.

Those people aren’t just your customers. They're potential members of your community, ready to spread the gospel of what you do. It's a great lesson for any person or marketer and whether you're trying to do business or just lead an upright life, it's powerful stuff.