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Attorney General Suthers Announces Lawsuit Against Morphcorp, Llc For Deceptive
Advertising Of “Family Yearbooks”
11/23/2005
(DENVER) – Attorney General John Suthers announced today that his office filed a consumer
protection lawsuit in Arapahoe County District Court against Morphcorp LLC, a Parker,
Colorado company, as well as the company’s president and general manager, Maxwell
MacMaster, for alleged deceptive advertising and sales of “Family Yearbooks.”
“Deceptive advertising will not be tolerated in Colorado,” said Suthers. “This lawsuit
alleges that Morphcorp used deceptive advertising and marketing tactics to sell thousands
of ‘Family Yearbooks’ to unsuspecting consumers in Colorado and throughout the country.”
The lawsuit alleges that Morphcorp marketed the “Family Yearbook” as a product of
genealogical research that was unique to the consumer’s family history. Yet, as the
lawsuit alleges, Morphcorp does not conduct any genealogical research specific to the
family before printing the Yearbook. In fact, much of the same information, including
“family jokes and recipes” and family pictures appear in each Yearbook regardless of the
surname for which it was created.
The lawsuit alleges that MacMaster offered the Yearbooks through direct-mail advertising,
which included various false and misleading statements. Among those was a claim by
MacMaster and his then-wife that they shared the same last name of the consumer to whom
the flyer was sent. The lawsuit also alleges that Morphcorp engaged in improper pricing
practices by falsely advertising that the Yearbook was available at a “special
pre-publication price” for a limited period of time, when in fact nearly all of the
Yearbooks sold were at the “special pre-publication price.” In most cases, that price was
$44.85, including charges for shipping and handling.
Attorney General Suthers’ lawsuit seeks a court order providing refunds to purchasers,
civil penalties of up to $2,000 for each violation of the Consumer Protection Act, and
attorney fees and costs. The lawsuit also seeks an injunction preventing defendants from
engaging in any future false and deceptive advertising of their merchandise.
Consumers with complaints regarding Morphcorp or the “Family Yearbook” may call the
Colorado Consumer Line toll-free 1-800-222-4444 (in Colorado) or 1-800-332-2071 (out of
state) or may download a complaint form from:
http://www.ago.state.co.us/consline/complaint.pdf.
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