From In-Flight to Blind Box: Making Porter’s 'Little Things' Tangible

The airline rides a rising trend for its 20th birthday

For 20 years, Porter has built a loyal following by paying attention to the little things that make flying enjoyable. These include genuine hospitality. No middle seats. Complimentary drinks served in real glassware. Plus moments of charm—like Mr. Porter, the brand’s raccoon mascot, popping up in unexpected places.

These are the things people talk about when they describe flying Porter. Nobody told passengers to notice them; they just do.

That insight is at the heart of “The Little Things,” the brand platform we created with Porter and introduced in 2025.

For the 20th birthday, we wanted to find a way for some of those small moments of joy to live beyond the flight itself. That became “The Little Things Blind Boxes.”

There’s Mr. Porter. The De Havilland Dash 8-400 plane that has been part of the fleet since day one. The Embraer E195-E2 that has taken Porter to new destinations in recent years. A drink served in a real glass. And a little piece of luggage ready for a special trip. Together, the five limited-edition collectibles let fans carry a piece of the Porter experience with them.

A cultural phenomenon, each Blind Box contains a sealed foil bag to be opened after purchase to reveal the collectable inside. The format of a surprise reveal is a little moment of joy in itself. And there is a one-in-500 chance to find something bigger—a Golden Porter Pass, good for 20 free flights to any Porter destination. The Pass might reach someone who has never flown with us and finds out firsthand what we’ve been describing. Or, for the passengers who’ve been with us since 2006, it’s a thank you.

As we brought the collection to life, some of the smallest decisions became the most important. Mr. Porter’s stir stick wasn’t part of the original Little Drink design. Once we added it, the piece suddenly felt unmistakably Porter. It’s a tiny detail, but that’s exactly the point.

The stickers were another surprise. They started as a small accompaniment to Little Luggage but ended up giving people a way to personalize it and mark their own journeys with Porter.

We were just as deliberate about what we left out. The 2×2 seat was one of the hardest calls. No middle seat is one of the most loved things about flying Porter—but we realized some things don’t translate to souvenirs. Such seating suggests your daughter resting her head on your shoulder, two friends looking at their DMs together or simply having a little more space with the person beside you. Turning that into an object would have lost what made it special.

That became an important creative filter. The things we chose had to retain the personality of the Porter experience even after they left the aircraft.

For me, that’s what The Little Things Blind Boxes are ultimately about. They build on a brand platform rooted in details people already notice, remember and love, and give those details a new place to live beyond the flight.

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