The merit of “cargo cult” as a metaphor is that it’s memorable. Once you’ve heard the story behind it, it inherently expresses the aspect of doing something out

The merit of “cargo cult” as a metaphor is that it’s memorable. Once you’ve heard the story behind it, it inherently expresses the aspect of doing something out of imitation rather than understanding, and that it relates to contexts where the thing doesn’t have the effect you think it has. “Boiler plate” is absolutely not the same, in that boiler plate is generally necessary and thus the correct thing to do, and there is no implication that one applies it without understanding.