(FORTUNE Magazine) – Sure, sex sells. But should lust be used to sell ice cream or personal computers (see photos)? That's the debate roiling some quarters in Britain and Sweden. British editorial writers, cartoonists, and radio commentators were fast to draw battle lines on ads by Haagen-Dazs, a U.S. premium ice cream maker, that show couples in various stages of undress. Some approved, some didn't. A writer at the Eastern Evening News considered the ad ''the most blatant and inappropriate use of sex as a sales aid yet.'' Responds Simon Esberger, Haagen-Dazs's marketing director in Britain: ''Eating our ice cream is a sensual experience. Anyway, you often do end up taking off your clothes when you eat ice cream.'' You'd think that the Swedes would be more tolerant. Not so. The Stockholm Business Council on Ethics condemned the ''inviting'' smile and ''provocative'' demeanor displayed by Helen Wellton, 30, co-owner of LapPower, a perhaps infelicitously named Stockholm retailer of laptops made in Taiwan. Retorts Wellton: ''I happen to wear low-cut dresses and short skirts to work. It's high time women were taken seriously even if they don't dress like men.'' The bottom line? In Britain, where Haagen-Dazs established a beachhead only last year, sales have soared since the ''Dedicated to pleasure'' ads first appeared this summer and, according to Esberger, should hit $10 million this year and $30 million in 1992. Consumers have also responded to LapPower's ads. Wellton reports, ''Sales are increasing daily.'' Even so, she is pursuing a complaint of her own against the ethics council. ''No one should be able to tell me I'm too sexy,'' she says. ''It's not right.''