I confess to being completely flummoxed over Amazon’s mid-summer sales event “Prime Day. ” Like many, I looked forward to it, expecting to find interesting deals on items I’ve been waiting to buy.

Prime Day came, and like millions of others, I went to the site to see what was available. I found nothing of interest, and went on my way. I wasn’t alone. RSR’s old friend, Emily Dart Haidri, currently on maternity bedrest said she scoured the site and could find absolutely nothing. In her words: “I tried to buy [the] one decent thing I found (a small baby toy for $11) right at the top of the hour-clicked instantly and it was already sold out. Who has more time on her hands than a pregnant mom on bedrest…and I still couldn’t get anything! ” My own sister, not on bed rest agreed: nothing to see here, move along.

By now, unless you’ve been on a Mindfulness Retreat, you’ve had your share of laughs over the many tweets posted under the hashtag #Primedayfail. My personal favorite was the screen shot of a 3-part deal consisting of a Diane Keaton T Shirt, a 5 piece family pack of Brass Knuckles (!?) and a plate of ham. Now that’s an interesting set of complimentary items. Makes the old “diapers and beer ” urban legend seem positively tame.

Fun’s fun, but apparently the day was a roaring success. So much so, that Amazon’s going to make it an annual event. Still, even the mass media has mixed reactions. Yes, Amazon sold more units than it did on Black Friday, and MarketWatch had some very powerful statistics. But do we care that the company sold 24,000 Instant Pot 7-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cookers, compared to 182 on the prior week? Is this a winning strategy?

A contributor to Entrepreneur.com is not ambivalent at all. Mark Harrington opined, “The major risk Amazon assumed was focusing on discount drivers that strayed from their core foundation built largely on convenience and trust. They went toe-to-toe with the discount juggernaut, Wal-Mart, on the field it has clearly mastered. “ He goes on to grade Walmart more highly on everything except price, where they came out equal. His article is also followed by some epic #PrimeDay tweets.

I have to say my opinion lies close to Mr. Harrington’s. On the one hand, retailers have always run promotions during hot summer months to drive traffic to stores (and now web sites). On the other hand, I have to wonder what this sale did for Amazon’s brand identity. It feels like America’s favorite retailer stooped to conquer.

Coincidentally, partner Nikki Baird and I recorded a Findings Review for our annual Pricing Benchmark on Prime Day. We were reminded of several key findings:

• Retailers’ primary objectives for their pricing strategies are to maximize gross margin and convey their value proposition
• They want to create more profitable promotions and create a more price competitive image while creating a better value proposition
• More than half worry about the possibility of negative customer reaction to changes in their pricing strategy

We can’t tell how successful Prime Day was in generating profitable promotions, but we can say that Amazon did alter its value proposition and most definitely experienced some negative customer reaction. Of course, there’s no doubt that the internet is the home of loud, squeaky wheels…if people like me based their lives on negative blog comments or tweets, we might start hiding under rocks or moving to monasteries. Still, the sentiment was undeniable.

I’m left at the end of the day still scratching my head. What the heck was that, anyway? If Amazon is trying to get the attention of Walmart shoppers, or that elusive family that needs a five-pack of brass knuckles it clearly succeeded. If it’s trying to cement its image as the go-to for the vast majority of people that want convenience at a fair price, it wasn’t all that.

I’ll still go ahead and order my case of cat food today, but I think I’ll be doing more competitive price checking in the future. After all, Amazon changed the game, and I’m not convinced it’s going to win on price every time. When you embarrass your best customers with your offers, problems are bound to arise.