This is a bit of bittersweet news for those of us who remember sneaking down to our high school music room to score a can of Pepsi from the machine between classes — PepsiCo has announced that they’ve volunteered to pull all their beverage products out of schools around the world by 2012.

For students here in the U.S., this is nothing new. Both Pepsi and Coca Cola stopped selling their sodas in American schools 4 years ago. But this latest move pulls Pepsi drinks out of all schools (with students age 18 and under) in 200 countries.

Coke did recently announce that they would stop sales in primary schools around the globe, but that the company would continue to sell their products to high school students if their schools wanted them to.

“We believe school authorities should have the right to choose what is best for their schools,” a rep for Coke explained.

Meanwhile, even the people at the Center for Science in the Public Interest had something nice to say about PepsiCo’s announcement.

“We applaud Pepsi for its global commitment,” a rep for CSPI said. “But shame on Coca-Cola for insisting on targeting high school students in most countries around the world.”

Do you think this reflects a genuine interest from PepsiCo in curbing childhood obesity? Or is it merely a PR stunt to get people to ultimately drink more Pepsi?

Pepsi is dropping out of schools worldwide by 2012 [USA Today]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.