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The luxury Italian knitwear designer, known for its zig-zag patterns, partnered with Target to offer 300 items, ranging from clothes to bath towels, at a fraction of its haute couture prices.

Eager shoppers rushed to Target.com at 6 a.m. yesterday to make their Missoni purchases, but soon after, the designer line was sold out and the site had crashed. In a statement, Target spokesman Joshua Thomas called it, "Missoni mayhem," and said what happened was "unprecedented."

But if Target knew that it had a limited supply of items, why did the retailer spend so much time and energy generating a tremendous buzz on social sites, as well as television and magazine advertising dollars prior to the launch? The company should have anticipated the rush and have been better prepared.

Now the question is, "Did this experience help or harm Target?" After the site crashed, angry fashionistas soon took to Twitter and Facebook to air their complaints, with some vowing never to shop at Target again. Others on Twitter declared it to be one of the best marketing stunts. I'm somewhere in the middle. On one hand, Target should have done a better job of managing customers' expectations, retaining its loyal customer base, and thus avoiding negative social chatter. On the other hand, most news organizations are talking about Target today, likey driving curious consumers to check out the site, but not without the probability of leaving with an item or two.

What do you think?