While seemingly as mysterious as Parliament's recessed filter, Vantage advertising from 1977 states that the reasoning behind the design is to give "smokers the flavor of a full-flavor cigarette without anywhere near the 'tar' or nicotine".

[citation needed] In September 2015, the Food and Drug Administration forbade the selling of 4 brands: Camel Bold Crush, Vantage Tech 13 and the regular and menthol versions of Pall Mall Deep Set Recessed Filter cigarettes because R.J. Reynolds had failed to prove that the cigarettes were no more dangerous than brands that have been on the market longer.

[13][14][15][16] The final punch line of the film Reversal of Fortune comes as Jeremy Irons's Klaus von Bulow purchases "two packs Vantage" at a drug store.

Vantage is featured as the heroine's cigarette of choice in Lorrie Moore's short story "Willing" in her collection Birds of America and is seen being stubbed out by a minor character in Donna Tartt's bestselling The Secret History.

In chapter 103 of Forever by Pete Hamill, Cormac O'Connor purchases a pack of Vantage, ending nine days of not smoking.