It's one thing when a sign tells you this. You can't clapback on a sign. It's another thing when the employee looks you dead in the eye and says "We don't have any pretzels." Then you can totally lay into them. That's the fun part. This tray obviously has some pretzels in it, but I have some insider knowledge to let you in on. I used to work at a movie theater and we had these very same pretzel displays. Here's the truth: Those aren't real pretzels.
They made fake pretzels that always look appetizing to put in the trays. The real pretzels are in the back in a steamer. I've had this argument many times where someone wanted to buy the pretzel in the display. Even after telling them it was fake, they still wanted to buy it.