It *is* a problem that charismatic species are often focused on for conservation at the expense of less charismatic but important species, but threatened species that are the subject of a lot of public outreach and education are also typically strategically selected.
I suspect that monarch butterflies are an example of this. Milkweed is a highly valuable plant for pollinators and a host plant for like. 400+ insect species. Getting people to plant it to save monarchs is funny because you're essentially finessing people into saving a ton of other insects that they wouldn't ordinarily care about
"Save the bees" isn't misguided, it's just the version of the truth you would tell a 5 year old. If a small kid asks about the colors of the rainbow you don't start explaining that visible light has wavelengths of 400-700 nanometers
A lot of people don't even know that there are different types of bees. things like planting native flowers, stopping using insecticides, etc, benefit all bees and all insects generally
ALSO
it's actually a GOOD thing to have lots of conservation efforts focusing on "Charismatic megafauna," especially apex predators
Because big animals like tigers need a LOT of space
So creating a preserve to save tigers...saves thousands of other species, because the tigers need miles and miles of habitat to live on, and that habitat needs to be healthy to support the tigers
They're called "umbrella species" and they're a great thing.
