World: Stuart Elliott in America.(business competition between Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola)

There's a saying in America that the middle of the road is for yellow lines and road kill. Now the country's two cola colossi are racing to sell soft drinks in the middle - and Madison Avenue is going along for the ride.

The competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola is to market what are being called mid-calorie colas, versions of their flagship soft-drink brands with half the sugar, carbohydrates and calories. The bright idea: appeal to consumers who can't cotton to the taste of traditional low-calorie beverages but are watching their weight or, even more on trend, watching their carb intakes on regimes such as the Atkins diet.

The rumours that Coke and Pepsi, locked in mortal combat across so many categories, were developing mid-calorie colas had reached the level of dull roars by the time Pepsi announced at a big bottlers' meeting last month that it would be bringing out its version this summer under the brand name Pepsi Edge.

'We think the timing is right,' Ahad Afridi, the vice-president of innovation - yes, that's his title - at Pepsi-Cola North America, said of Pepsi Edge, which is to have 70 calories per 12-ounce serving, compared with 150 for regular Pepsi.

The long-time Pepsi agency, BBDO New York, was named to handle the launch, with a budget Pepsi said would match its most recent product introductions.

That would mean somewhere in the neighbourhood of dollars 30 million - a nice neighbourhood indeed, given the up-one-day, down-the-next malaise pervading the industry.

Coke's not far behind Pepsi in opening a mid-calorie front in the cola wars, readying a summer entry analysts say may be called Coke Ultra. Berlin Cameron/Red ...