We all know Gabe Newell as the founder of Steam, but did you know that he once had to work as an underwear model in China?

A curious discovery is making the rounds on the internet. A Chinese company once sold underwear with Gabe Newell’s face on the packaging.

Gabe Newell is a living gaming legend. This man founded Valve, one of the most famous gaming companies, and was jointly responsible for legendary games such as Half-Life. But he also launched Steam, the largest distribution platform for PC games ever.

But did you know that Gabe Newell used to be an underwear model? It sounds like a lie, and it actually is, but that doesn’t change the fact that Gabe Newell was once featured on the packaging for Chinese underwear.

The lord our savior Gabe, now with LONGD underwear
by
u/Venom1521 in
crappyoffbrands

Underwear for fat men

This image has been circulating online since 2019 and is regularly reposted. Most recently in a Reddit thread on August 5. As far as can be traced, the photo originally comes from a user named Venom1521. He claims to have taken the picture in Shenzhen, China.

Incidentally, the photo is obviously a montage. At that time, AI models were not yet really established, so good old Photoshop was probably used here. The body is from another man, only Gabe Newell’s face is visible. However, this is a very old photo of the Steam founder.

Apart from the obvious fact that GabeN as an underwear model is naturally amusing, the text on the packaging also makes people smile:

• The brand is called Long Dian, but is abbreviated to LongD. In English, however, this has a completely different meaning in colloquial language.
• The product itself is roughly translated on the packaging as extra-large pants for fat men.
• People are also amused by the fact that the package only contains two pairs of underwear. It’s an established running joke that Valve doesn’t produce third parts to games.

Is this allowed?

We don’t know for sure, but it’s very likely that Gabe Newell did not give permission for his image to be used here. And no, even in China there are laws protecting personal rights. Such actions are therefore not permitted under any circumstances.

However, intellectual property protection in China has long been difficult to enforce due to cultural and social developments. Counterfeiting and the unauthorized use of images from the Internet are not legal, but they are very widespread and are still rarely prosecuted sufficiently.

However, the GabeN underwear is probably no longer available.